One of the most fascinating aspects of Gitanjali is its ever-changing, ever-morphing speaker. He becomes a poet, singer, musician, flower gatherer, devotee, young bride, beloved, etc.

In Song 21, the speaker seems to be in the final phase — the autumn — of his life. The spring, signifying youth, has long passed by. The leaves have turned yellow. Sitting near the shore, he realizes that the time is ripe to push his boat out into the sea. The waves are raging on. Even though he knows that the moment to depart has arrived, he waits awhile at the shore, passing ‘languid hours’. Does it signify the human desire to hang on to life till the last moment? Tagore uses images of autumnal vegetation, such as ‘faded futile flower’ ‘yellow leaves’ for an old and decaying human body.

The speaker seems to be in a tussle with himself. For a long time, he has wanted to cross the ocean for his final union with the divine. However, when the hour has arrived, he gazes at the emptiness.

Towards the end, as if to shake his doubting self, the speaker questions if the prospect of crossing the waters does not thrill him. The notes of songs are floating from the other side. All he needs is to summon the courage to push his boat into the sea of eternity.

I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore — Alas for me!

The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.

The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall.

What emptiness do you gaze upon!

Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far away song floating from the other shore?

The idea of human life as a boat is a prevalent metaphor in Indian devotional poetry and folk songs.

Tagore would have grown up listening to the boat/ river songs or ‘Bhatiali’, popular in the Bengal region. These are mostly sung by boatmen while crossing rivers and consist of metaphorical poetry, touching upon subjects such as the human body (Deha Tatva), the Guru or divine( Murshid Tatva), and nature (Prakriti Tatva).

Here’s a popular song from the Bollywood classic, Bandini, that derives its inspiration from the boat song tradition of Bengal. The protagonist (in the song) confronts a similar confusion— ‘to go or not to go’—as faced by Tagore’s speaker.