Rabindranath Tagore Poetry
Paper Boats by Rabindranath Tagore
Day by day I float my paper boats one by one down the running
stream.
In big black letters I write my name on them and the name of
the village where I live.
I hope that someone in some strange land will find them and
know who I am.
I load my little boats with shiuli flower from our garden, and
hope that these blooms of the dawn will be carried safely to land
in the night.
I launch my paper boats and look up into the sky and see the
little clouds setting thee white bulging sails.
I know not what playmate of mine in the sky sends them down
the air to race with my boats!
When night comes I bury my face in my arms and dream that my
paper boats float on and on under the midnight stars.
The fairies of sleep are sailing in them, and the lading ins
their baskets full of dreams.
Paper Boats Poem Summary –
This reminds me of a boy who has reached the age where he realizes that life as we know it is temporary. It is a time when we reach out, realizing that the shores go further than our sight and that there are others who are further along the banks, just out of our reach. Perhaps, through sailing his boats, this boy/ man is giving a piece of himself to someone else. He is telling the world that he is here, that there is another face around the bend. He may also be hoping that he will be remembered some day when he is gone, if only for his boats.
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