# LXII explained — Gitanjali

> Chapter companion for Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore.

## What happens

The poet reflects on the joy of giving to a child, understanding through these simple acts the deeper beauty and pleasure inherent in nature—the colors of clouds and flowers, the music of leaves and waves, the sweetness of honey and fruit, and the delight of morning light and summer breeze.

## Themes in this chapter

### Beauty of the Ordinary and Nature

The poet finds profound meaning in everyday acts of giving and playing, connecting them to the colors, music, and sweetness of the natural world.

### Divine Love and Devotion

The loving gestures toward the child mirror the poet's devotion to the divine, revealing love as the source of understanding nature's beauty.

## Character check-ins

### The Poet

The speaker who brings toys, sings, offers sweets, and kisses the child, finding in these actions the meaning of natural beauty.

### The Divine

Implied as the recipient of the poet's offerings, the child addressed as 'my child' and 'my darling'.

## Key lines

> When I bring to you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints⁠—when I give coloured toys to you, my child.

Giving you colorful toys helps me realize why clouds, water, and flowers are so vividly colored.

_The act of giving reveals the purpose behind natural beauty._

> When I sing to make you dance I truly know why there is music in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth⁠—when I sing to make you dance.

Singing to make you dance lets me understand the music in leaves and the waves' chorus reaching the earth.

_The joy of making the child dance unlocks the meaning of nature's sounds._

> When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands I know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice⁠—when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.

Offering sweets to your eager hands explains why flowers hold honey and fruits contain sweet juice.

_The child's delight in sweetness mirrors nature's hidden gifts._

> When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light, and what delight that is which the summer breeze brings to my body⁠—when I kiss you to make you smile.

Kissing you to see you smile helps me grasp the pleasure of morning light and the delight of the summer breeze.

_The child's smile reveals the essence of natural joy._

## Links

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