Gitanjali · Chapter
LXXXVII explained
The poet searches desperately for a lost beloved in his small room, but cannot find her.
What happens
The poet searches desperately for a lost beloved in his small room, but cannot find her. He realizes that what is lost in his finite world can be regained in the infinite mansion of the divine. Standing at the brink of eternity, he prays for his emptied life to be immersed in the ocean of divine fullness, hoping to feel the lost sweet touch in the allness of the universe.
Themes in this chapter
The Pain of Separation and Longing
The poet's desperate search for the lost beloved and the ache of separation drive the entire poem.
Surrender and Egolessness
The poet surrenders his emptiness to the divine ocean, asking to be plunged into deepest fullness.
Characters to notice
- The Poet
The speaker who searches desperately for the lost beloved and turns to the divine.
- The Divine
The lord whose infinite mansion offers hope and the possibility of regaining what is lost.
Key passages
“In desperate hope I go and search for her in all the corners of my room; I find her not.”
I search frantically for her in every part of my small room, but she is gone.
The poet's futile search for the lost beloved in his limited world.
“But infinite is thy mansion, my lord, and seeking her I have to come to thy door.”
Your home is boundless, my lord, so I come to your threshold to find her.
The turn from finite loss to infinite divine possibility.
“Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean, plunge it into the deepest fullness.”
Immerse my hollow life in that vast ocean, submerge it in the ultimate abundance.
A prayer for total immersion in divine fullness to fill the emptiness.