THE BOAT OF THE boatman Madhu is moored at the wharf of Rajgunj.
It is uselessly laden with jute, and has been lying there idle forever so long.
If he would only lend me his boat, I should man her with a hundred oars, and hoist sails, five or six or seven.
I should never steer her to stupid markets.
I should sail the seven seas and the thirteen rivers of fairyland.
But, mother, you won't weep for me in a corner.
I am not going into the forest like Ramachandra to come back only after fourteen years.
I shall become the prince of the story, and fill my boat with whatever I like.
I shall take my friend Ashu with me. We shall sail merrily across the seven seas and the thirteen rivers of fairyland.
We shall set sail in the early morning light.
When at noontide you are bathing at the pond, we shall be in the land of a strange king.
We shall pass the ford of Tirpurni, and leave behind us the desert
of Tepantar.
When we come back it will be getting dark, and I shall tell you of all that we have seen.
I shall cross the seven seas and the thirteen rivers of fairyland.

MY OFFERINGS are not for the temple at the end of the road,
but for the wayside shrines
that surprise me at every bend.

       আমার      চিত্ত তোমায় নিত্য হবে
              সত্য হবে--
       ওগো     সত্য,আমার এমন সুদিন
              ঘটবে কবে।
                   সত্য সত্য সত্য জপি,
                   সকল বুদ্ধি সত্যে সঁপি,
                   সীমার বাঁধন পেরিয়ে যাব
                           নিখিল ভবে,
                   সত্য, তোমার পূর্ণ প্রকাশ
                           দেখব কবে।
       তোমায় দূরে সরিয়ে, মরি
              আপন অসত্যে।
       কী যে কাণ্ড করি গো সেই
              ভূতের রাজত্বে।
                           আমার আমি ধুয়ে মুছে
                           তোমার মধ্যে যাবে ঘুচে,
                           সত্য, তোমায় সত্য হব
                                  বাঁচব তবে,
                           তোমার মধ্যে মরণ আমার
                                  মরবে কবে।