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