Captive versus free animals

[Guest guest]

One of my favourite poems:

http://www.poetry-archive.com/t/the_tame_bird_was_in_a_cage.html

THE TAME BIRD WAS IN A CAGE

 

*by: Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)*

 

THE tame bird was in a cage, the free bird was in the forest. They met

when the time came, it was a decree of fate. The free bird cries, " O

my love, let us fly to the wood. " The cage bird whispers, " Come

hither, let us both live in the cage. " Says the free bird, " Among

bars, where is there room to spread one's wings? " " Alas, " cries the

caged bird, " I should not know where to sit perched in the sky. " The

free bird cries, " My darling, sing the songs of the woodlands. " The

cage bird sings, " Sit by my side, I'll teach you the speech of

the learned. "

The forest bird cries, " No, ah no! songs can never be taught. " The

cage bird says, " Alas for me, I know not the songs of the woodlands. "

Their love is intense with longing, but they never can fly wing to

wing. Through the bars of the cage they look, and vain is their wish

to know each other. They flutter their wings in yearning, and sing,

" Come closer, my love! " The free bird cries, " It cannot be, I fear the

closed doors of the cage. " The cage bird whispers, " Alas, my wings are

powerless and dead. "

 

" The tame bird was in a cage " is reprinted from *The Gardener*.

Rabindranath Tagore. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913.