# Light, My Light explained — Gitanjali

> Chapter companion for Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore.

## What happens

The poet celebrates the omnipresent, life-giving light of the divine, which fills the world, stirs love, and brings boundless joy and mirth to all creation.

## Themes in this chapter

### Divine Love and Devotion

The poet's ecstatic address to the divine as 'my darling' and the imagery of light as love's chords express deep devotional love.

### Beauty of the Ordinary and Nature

The light dances, butterflies spread sails, lilies and jasmines surge—nature is transfigured by divine radiance.

## Character check-ins

### The Poet

The speaker who exults in the divine light and addresses the beloved.

### The Divine

Addressed as 'my darling,' the source of the world-filling light and joy.

## Key lines

> Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!

O divine light that fills the universe, that touches my eyes and sweetens my heart!

_The poet opens with an apostrophe to the divine light, emphasizing its intimate and universal presence._

> the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love

The light moves joyfully at the core of my being, and it plays upon the strings of my love.

_Light is personified as a dancer and musician, stirring the poet's innermost emotions._

> The heaven’s river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.

The celestial river has overflowed, and joy floods the entire world.

_A metaphor for the overwhelming abundance of divine joy that spills into creation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se/chapters/lvii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se/chapters