None lives for ever, brother, and <br />nothing lasts for long. Keep that in <br />mind and rejoice. <br /> Our life is not the one old burden, <br />our path is not the one long <br />journey. <br /> One sole poet has not to sing one <br />aged song. <br /> The flower fades and dies; but he <br />who wears the flower has not to <br />mourn for it for ever. <br /> Brother, keep that in mind and <br />rejoice. <br /> There must come a full pause to <br />weave perfection into music. <br /> Life droops toward its sunset to be <br />drowned in the golden shadows. <br /> Love must be called from its play <br />to drink sorrow and be borne to the <br />heaven of tears. <br /> Brother, keep that in min and <br />rejoice. <br /> We hasten to gather our flowers lest <br />they are plundered by the passing <br />winds. <br /> It quickens our blood and brightens <br />our eyes to snatch kisses that would <br />vanish if we delayed. <br /> Our life is eager, our desires are keen, <br />for time tolls the bell of parting. <br /> Brother, keep that in mind and <br />rejoice. <br /> There is not time for us to clasp a <br />thing and crush it and fling it away to <br />the dust. <br /> The hours trip rapidly away, hiding <br />their dreams in their skirts. <br /> Our life is short; it yields but a <br />few days for love. <br /> Were it for work and drudgery it <br />would be endlessly long. <br /> Brother, keep that in mind and <br />rejoice. <br /> Beauty is sweet to us, because she <br />dances to the same fleeting tune with <br />our lives. <br /> Knowledge is precious to us, because <br />we shall never have time to <br />complete it. <br /> All is done and finished in the eternal <br />Heaven. <br /> But earth's flowers of illusion are <br />kept eternally fresh by death. <br /> Brother, keep that in mind and <br />rejoice.<br /><br />Rabindranath Tagore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-gardener-lxviii-none-lives-for-ever-brother/
