1. Indian Literature is one of the most ancient literatures in the world.

The
term refers to the literary work that had been produced in various
Indian languages since ages. In ancient times, the literary works used
to be imparted orally. The first ancient Indian literature was Sanskrit
literature of Rig Veda, Ramayana, and Mahabharata which were written
in first millennium BCE. Among the Indian literary personnel, the name
of Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore shines the brightest. He became
not only the first Indian but also the first Asian to receive the Nobel
Prize for literature in 1913.

2. Shakuntala by Kalidasa

Dusyanta, a king in northern India, is racing along in his chariot,

preparing to shoot a deer. Suddenly, a forest-dwelling ascetic warns
him not to shoot, since the deer belongs to the nearby hermitage of
Kanva, a great sage. The ascetic invites King Dusyanta to visit the
hermitage, which is under his royal protection. He explains that Kanva
isn‘t home, but the sage‘s daughter, Shakuntala, is receiving guests.

When the King enters the hermitage, he notices Shakuntala and

her two friends, Anasuya and Priyamvada, watering the sacred trees.
He hides in the shadows to observe them, instantly drawn to
Shakuntala‘s beauty. When Dusyanta reveals his presence, a flustered
Shakuntala is immediately attracted to him, too. Though Shakuntala is
modest and shy, the King questions Shakuntala‘s friends about her and
offers her his signet ring.

Before the King has to concoct a reason to linger near the

hermitage, he‘s asked to protect the ascetics from evil spirits in
Kanva‘s absence. He quickly dispels the demons, and then overhears
Shakuntala, who‘s desperately lovesick, confiding her feelings for him
to her friends. When Shakuntala recites a love poem she composed for
him, he emerges from hiding and openly declares his love for her. Their
mutual declarations effectively constitute a secret marriage. Before
long, Shakuntala is pregnant.

After Dusyanta is forced to return to his capital, Shakuntala is so

distracted that she unintentionally offends Durvasas, a short-tempered
sage, when he visits the hermitage. Durvasas puts a curse on her that
will cause Dusyanta to forget Shakuntala, but when Priyamvada
intercedes, he grants that the sight of a memento—the signet ring—
will lift the curse. After Kanva returns,
 he celebrates Shakuntala‘s good fortune and sends her to join her
husband, escorted by seers.

In the capital, when Dusyanta receives word that a party from

Kanva‘s hermitage is on its way, he is surprised and uneasy. To
Shakuntala‘s grief, the baffled and defensive King denies having any
connection with her. When she tries to show him the signet ring as a
reminder, she discovers it‘s missing from her finger. Dusyanta relents
and agrees to house Shakuntala until she gives birth, but before he
can do so, Shakuntala is spirited away to the celestial realm by
nymphs.

A poor fisherman discovers the King‘s signet ring in the belly of a

fish and is threatened with execution, but he is let go with a reward
after the King, seeing the ring and remembering everything,
corroborates his story. Soon thereafter, Sanumati, a nymph and
friend of Shakuntala‘s mother, spies at the palace to find out why the
spring festival has been canceled. She learns that the King,
overwhelmed by depression and remorse over Shakuntala, has
forbidden the celebration. Dusyanta continues to obsess over the
situation until Matali, the god Indra‘s charioteer, appears at the palace
and takes him away on an urgent mission to fight demons.

Six years pass. King Dusyanta has successfully vanquished the

demons and been duly honored by Indra. When Matali and the King
tour the earth in a flying chariot, they descend to visit Marica‘s
hermitage, a celestial realm of the demigods. Here the King is
astonished to meet a little boy who greatly resembles him. When he
picks up the boy‘s protective amulet—able to be touched only by the
boy and his parents—he confirms that the boy, Sarvadamana, is
indeed his child, the prophesied world ruler. Then Shakuntala enters,
and, though it takes her a moment to recognize the King, they are soon
tearfully reunited. The three of them talk with Marica the sage, and he
explains Durvasas‘s curse, telling the couple not to blame themselves
or one another. Marica confirms Sarvadamana‘s destiny and blesses
the family, sending them home to live in Dusyanta‘s court.

Click here for further reading: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/shakuntala/summary

3. Ramayana by Valmiki
Born during an age when the demon Ravana terrorized the
world, Rama is the virtuous, wise, and powerful prince of Ayodhya. As
a young man, he is able to accomplish what no other man has ever
done: he lifts and strings the bow of Shiva, and by so doing he earns
the right to marry the beautiful Sita.
 Just when he is about to ascend the throne of Ayodhya, his father
Dasaratha is forced to exile him for fourteen years to the forest due to
a vow made long ago. Unruffled, Rama accepts his exile; his wife Sita
and his loyal brother Lakshmana accompany him. In the forest, the
princely brothers kill many demons and visit many wise men and
women.

The evil demon Ravana hears of Sita's beauty, and kidnaps her.
He has fallen in love with her and tries to seduce her, but she rebuffs
his advances for nearly ten months.

Desperate to win her back, Rama and Lakshmana form an

alliance with the monkey king Sugriva, and invade Lanka with an army
of monkeys. After many violent battles, Rama defeats Ravana and
wins back Sita. He is concerned that she has been unfaithful during her
long captivity, and so Sita undergoes a trial by fire to prove her
chastity. Rama takes her back, and they return to rule Ayodhya for
many wonderful years.

In another version of the tale, Rama hears his people gossiping

about Sita's imagined indiscretions, and he banishes her to the forest,
where she gives birth to Rama's twin sons. Sita and the children
confront him years later; he tries to explain his harsh actions to Sita,
but she vanishes into the earth to escape him.

Click the links for further reading:

https://www.gradesaver.com/the-ramayana/study-guide/summary

https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-ramayana/summary

4. Mahabharata by Vyasa
Book 1: Beginnings

We begin during the rule of Bharata, when everyone on Earth follows

dharma. His lineage is traced to two sons: Dhrtarastra, who is blind
and cannot inherit the throne, and Pandu, who becomes king. Pandu
has one illegitimate son he must give up to be raised as a Suta and five
sons to call his own, and all six are gods incarnate. Dhrtarastra has 100
sons (called Kauravas), all demons. Pandu's five sons Arjuna, Bhima,
Yudhisthira, Nakula, and Sahadeva are all great warriors or great
kings, and marry the princess Draupadi. Dhrtarastra's
son Duryodhana leads the other 99 brothers, and has a seething
hatred for the Pandavas, or Pandu's sons. Both Yudhisthira and
Duryodhana are granted kingdoms by Dhrtarastra.
Book 2: The Hall

After Yudhisthira is consecrated as king, Duryodhana schemes to take

his kingdom. So, Duryodhana challenges Yudhisthira to a dice game.
Duryodhana implores Yudhisthira to participate, and Yudhisthira
determines that it's his dharma to play despite being a terrible
gambler. He gradually gambles away his entire kingdom and the
freedom of his wife, but Dhrtarastra commands Duryodhana to give
Yudhisthira one more chance. Duryodhana agrees, saying that if
Yudhisthira loses, he and the other Pandavas must live in exile for 12
years and spend a 13th year in disguise, and if they're recognized,
they must spend another 12 years in exile. Yudhisthira loses.

Book 3: The Forest

The brothers and Draupadi spend the 12 years of exile in the forest,
studying with Brahmins and training. During this period of time, Arjuna
is granted a celestial weapon by the god Indra. Draupadi is kidnapped
and brought back.

Book 4: Virata

During their 13th year, the Pandavas take refuge in the king Virata's
palace, posing as former subjects of Yudhisthira. Draupadi poses as a
maidservant to maintain her independence. It's an eventful year, with
a rape attempt on Draupadi that leads to Bhima slaughtering all of the
aggressor's supporters and Arjuna helping Virata's son win back cattle
from thieves. The brothers make it through the 13th year undetected
despite these showy adventures.

Book 5: Perseverance

Yudhisthira returns to take his kingdom back, but learns Duryodhana

has no intention of turning it over. Duryodhana clearly wants war, but
Krishna advises Yudhisthira to ask for a peaceful transfer of power first.
Duryodhana denies this peaceful transfer, clearly desiring war despite
being chided by everyone close to him. The two sides prepare for war.
Duryodhana appoints Bhima his commander. Khrisna tells the
Yudhisthira that even though he will equip Duryodhana with soldiers,
he will side with the Pandavas.

Book 6: Bhisma

At the beginning of the battle, Arjuna asks Khrisna for permission to

throw down his arms since he does not want to slay his kind. Khrisna
recites the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, explaining the tenets of dharma
and action, and specifically Arjuna's duty to fight in this war with a
preordained outcome. After a sustained
conflict between Arjuna and Khrisna, Arjuna finally kills Bhisma on the
10th day of the war, and Bhisma chooses to lie on a bed of arrows and
delay the date of his death.

Book 7: Drona

Drona, Arjuna's former military trainer, is appointed the new

commander of Duryodhana's army. He is a fearsome fighter, so the
Pandavas devise a plan to trick Drona into defying his dharma, making
him ready to die. Yudhisthira tells Drona that Bhima killed
Asvatthaman, which is the name of Drona's son. In reality, Bhima killed
an elephant named Asvatthaman. Drona flies into a fit of rage and
violates his dharma by massacring soldiers he shouldn't kill. When he
realizes what has happened, he lays down his arms and accepts his
death.

Book 8: Karna

Duryodhana begins to grasp that his campaign is doomed, but at

Karna's request, he appoints Karna the new commander of his army.
Karna and Arjuna meet on the battlefield in a bloody exchange, in
which Karna is slowly brutalized and killed.

Book 9: Salya

Salya is appointed the next and, ultimately, final commander of

Duryodhana's army. He is quickly killed by Yudhisthira. Duryodhana
flees to hide in a lake, knowing the end of the war is imminent, but the
Pandavas find him. Bhima kills him in a match with clubs, using an
unfair strike. Despite the protests of observers and Duryodhana
himself, Khrisna ordains the strike, saying it was within Bhima's
dharma and that Duryodhana had acted in a dharma by instigating the
war.

Book 10: The Night-Raid

Among the handful of Kauravas surviving, Asvatthaman sneaks into

the Pandavas' camp and massacres everyone in it, some of them in
such a way that they do not die a proper warrior's death and can't
attain heaven. As he leaves, he places a curse on Pandava wombs,
making them barren.

Book 11: The Women

Yudhisthira visits Dhrtarastra, who is mourning over the death of all of

his sons. Likewise, the Kauravas' wives confront Yudhisthira about
massacring their husbands. When Dhrtarastra sees Bhima, he tries to
kill him, but Khrisna tricks
Dhrtarastra into attacking an effigy of Bhima instead. There is a funeral
pyre for the Kauravas and then a ritual at the Ganga River. At the
Ganga, Yudhisthira learns that Karna was his brother, and plunges into
grief.

Book 12: Tranquility

Yudhisthira is ambivalent about taking his throne, but agrees to it to

honor Dhrtarastra. The Pandavas travel to visit the dying Bhisma, who
asks for a pillow from Arjuna, but means that he wants more arrows to
rest his head on. Bhisma begins a philosophical conversation with
Yudhisthira on his duties as a king and the nature of dharma.

Book 13: Instruction

Bhisma's and Yudhisthira's conversation continues, as they talk about

how to live well and abide by dharma, as well as about women. Bhisma
tells Duryodhana that he should consider the Pandavas his own sons,
and forget about his wicked sons that have gone to hell. Bhisma dies
and is cremated.

Book 14: The Horse Sacrifice

Yudhisthira hesitates to resume ruling, but Khrisna instructs him to

undertake a horse sacrifice ritual to cleanse the world. Arjuna rides the
white horse that will be sacrificed around the former sites of battle and
fends off various aggressors. After the journey, the horse and many
other animals are sacrificed in a pyre, and the smoke from the horse's
burning intestinal sac does the purifying.
Book 15: The Hermitage

Dhrtarastra and his wife Gandhari, along with the Pandavas' mother
Kunti and some others, retreat to a forest hermitage to live out their
days as ascetics. The Pandavas miss their mother sorely and organize
a trip to visit the elders. Shortly after their trip, their elders burn to
death in a sacred fire lit by Dhrtarastra.

Book 16: The Clubs

We read the tale of the Vrishni who descend into sin when they learn of
their demise by time. Khrisna is himself killed by a hunter named Jara,
which is Sanskrit for "old age." He ascends and rejoins the gods.
Without Khrisna, Arjuna is unable to defend the Vrishni women from a
kidnapping by a pack of thieves. He returns to tell his brothers of his
defeat.
 Book 17: The Great Journey

With Khrisna dead, Yudhisthira decides it is his time to die as well. He

leaves the throne to Pariksit, and he and his brothers set out on a
journey to travel the world. In the mountains, the brothers and
Draupadi die one by one. When Yudhisthira is met by Indra to be taken
in a chariot to heaven, Yudhisthira refuses to leave his dog behind,
since it was loyal to him. The dog transforms into the god of dharma
and praises Yudhisthira for his virtuousness.

Book 18: The Ascent to Heaven

Yudhisthira only finds Duryodhana in heaven and is baffled. He

demands to be taken to where his brothers are, so he is taken to hell.
There, Yudhisthira says he will stay with his brothers instead of
choosing to go to heaven. Indra informs him that this was the final test

Click the link for further reading: https://www.gradesaver.com/mahabharata/study-

guide/summary

5. Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita forms a section of the sixth book of the

Mahabharata, an important Sanskrit epic in the Hindu tradition that
recounts a lengthy struggle and brief war between two sides of the
Bharata family—the Pandavas and the Kauravas—over their kingdom
of Hastinapura. The Gita recounts a dialogue in the moments leading
up to the war between the Pandava warrior Arjuna and his charioteer
and trusted advisor, Krishna, who turns out to be a worldly incarnation
of Vishnu, a god who serves as the Supreme Being in many forms of
Hinduism. However, Arjuna and Krishna‘s dialogue is actually
recounted through a frame story: Sanjaya, an advisor to Dhritarashtra
(the Kauravas‘ father and the blind king of Hastinapura) reports this
dialogue to the king after the Pandavas have already won the war.

In the first of the Gita‘s eighteen sections or discourses,

―field of dharma.‖ While the Kauravas have more men, the Pandavas
seem to have the gods‘ favor, as they respond to the Kauravas‘
impressive conch horns with divine ones that shake the earth and sky.
As Krishna drives Arjuna‘s chariot into the middle of the battlefield,
Arjuna realizes that he cannot bear to kill his cousins, which he
believes would destroy the dharma, or moral standing, of his entire
family and poison any pleasure he might derive from victory. He lowers
his weapon and begins to weep.

Krishna reprimands Arjuna at the beginning of the second

discourse, calling him a coward and suggesting that he is blind to the
fundamental truth that people‘s souls do not die with their bodies.
Rather, the eternal soul is reincarnated in another body, so Arjuna
should not grieve for his family members but instead follow his dharma
as a kshatriya (warrior) by fighting. If he wins the war, Arjuna will rule
the earth; if he loses, he will ascend to heaven; but if he refuses to
fight, he will disgrace himself. In addition to grasping these truths
intellectually, Krishna says that people can learn to stop clinging to the
fruits of action, turn away from the false realm of the senses, and free
themselves from negative emotions by practicing yoga. Each of these
routes promises to help people dissolve their sense of self, transcend
the material world, and blissfully reunite with the absolute being called
Brahman.

In the third discourse, Arjuna asks why Krishna wants him to act
if he believes that enlightenment comes from restraining one‘s impulse
to action. Krishna argues that everyone must act by virtue of being in
the world, but that these actions are the workings of material elements
called gunas rather than the will of the individual soul. The only pure
form of action is sacrifice to the gods which leads the gods to sustain
human life on earth.
 Krishna begins to reveal his true nature to Arjuna in the fourth
discourse: he is eternal, intervenes in the universe whenever
necessary to maintain dharma,
and dedicates himself to those who perform sacrifices for him—
especially those who sacrifice their knowledge by surrendering it to
him.

In the fifth discourse, Arjuna notes that the renunciation of action

(samnyasa) and yoga (which is a form of action) seem to be opposites,
yet Krishna considers both as viable means to enlightenment. Krishna
replies that yoga is a means to renunciation, because it allows people
to overcome their ignorant motivations for action. In the sixth
discourse, Krishna explains that this meditative yogic discipline allows
people to understand their unity in Brahman with all other beings,
which can lead them to transcend the cycle of rebirth (samsara) or, at
the very least, reincarnate into purer bodies.

In the seventh discourse, Krishna explains that he truly

encompasses everything, from all the material things that comprise
the earth to his higher being, the force that creates and dissolves the
world. His true being is formless, timeless, and beyond all dualities; he
loves the wise few who understand these fundamentals. In discourse
eight, Krishna suggests that people can transcend rebirth and join him
directly if they learn to fix their minds on him constantly, and
particularly at the moment of death. The ninth discourse expands on
Krishna‘s all-pervasive nature, absolute power over the world, and
providence over those who worship him.

In the tenth and eleventh discourses, Krishna turns from an

intellectual explanation of his power to concrete demonstrations of it.
The god professes his love for Arjuna, who in return acknowledges him
as the highest being of all and asks about his divine forms. Krishna
begins to enumerate these forms, declaring himself the greatest of
each kind of thing, person, and force that exists in the world as well as
the characteristics in virtue of which such kinds exist at all—he is
wisdom among the wise and authority among rulers, silence among
the hidden, and ―the ancient seed of all beings.‖ But Krishna‘s
numerous descriptions barely
scratch the surface of his infinite power; he shows himself to Krishna in
the eleventh discourse, taking on a form with innumerable eyes,
mouths, and limbs that seems to contain everything, including infinite
light, all the Bharata warriors, the entire world, and all the other gods.
Arjuna worships Krishna with shock and fear, apologizing for his
ignorance and asking the ―Incomparable One‖ for mercy and
patience. Krishna notes that nobody—not even the gods—has seen
this form before.

After securing Arjuna‘s eternal fealty, Krishna goes on to explain

that it is easier for devotees to worship his embodied forms than to
grasp his true, formless self and offers practical advice for Hindus of
different dispositions in his twelfth discourse. In the thirteenth, he
distinguishes the body from the eternal, immaterial soul that bears
various bodies on its way to enlightenment. The gunas that comprise
the body and bind the soul to it—sattva (purity), rajas (passion), and
tamas (ignorance)—are the subject of Krishna‘s fourteenth discourse.
By relinquishing rajas and tamas for the sake of sattva, people can rise
up toward disembodiment through the cycle of reincarnation
(samsara). Krishna begins the following discourse with the image of a
holy ashvattha tree whose roots can be severed by ―the strong axe /
of non-clinging‖—again, by relinquishing one‘s attachments to action,
one can overcome even the most firmly rooted connections to the
world and integrate oneself into the indestructible, eternal spirit that
lies behind apparent reality.

In his sixteenth discourse, Krishna distinguishes characteristics of

the divine person nearing enlightenment—like truthfulness, self-
control, discipline, compassion, and courage—from those of greedy,
angry, demonic people who turn away from Vedic laws and elevate
desire above God. Arjuna asks Krishna to elaborate on Vedic rituals in
the seventeenth discourse, and the Lord tells him that sattvic people
perform sacrifices according to Vedic law in order to honor the
 gods and without any simultaneous material goals. He also outlines
three forms of food, bodily discipline, and gift-giving in accordance
with the three gunas.

In the final discourse, Krishna emphasizes the distinction

between renouncing all action—which usually happens because of
desire—and acting for action‘s sake, without an attachment to
consequences or desires. People who can relinquish this interest in the
fruits of action are called tyagis, and in their actions, they perceive all
beings as eternal dimensions of the same unified whole, following
their dharma fearlessly and steadfastly. He notes that dharma often
follows one‘s position in the caste system—which in turn reflects
people‘s inner nature—and emphasizes that one must fulfill this
prescribed role, even if imperfectly, in order to purify oneself.

Accordingly, Krishna implores Arjuna once again to fight the war

but reminds him that the decision is his alone. Finally, Krishna requests
Arjuna‘s absolute devotion and charges him with spreading the Gita‘s
message to those sufficiently disciplined and devoted to properly
receive ―this highest, hidden truth.‖ Arjuna resolutely agrees; in the
Gita‘s closing lines, the minister Sanjaya expresses his gratitude and
enthusiasm at hearing Krishna‘s words and declares that Arjuna is
blessed to bring ―splendor, / victory, well-being, / and wise conduct‖
wherever he goes, which suggests that the Pandavas are destined to
win back Hastinapura.

Click here for further reading: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-bhagavad-gita/summary

6. Panchatantra by Bidpai (?)

One of India's most influential contributions to world

literature, the Panchatantra (also spelled Pañcatantra or Pañca-tantra)
consists of five books of animal fables and magic tales (some 87
stories in all) that were compiled, in their current form, between the
third and fifth centuries AD. The
German Sanskrit scholar Johannes Hertel (1872-1955) believed that
the original collection was compiled in Kashmir about 200 BC, and that
at this time many of the stories were already ancient. The work's self-
proclaimed purpose is to educate the sons of royalty.

Although the original author's or compiler's name is unknown, an

Arabic translation from about 750 AD attributes the Panchatantra to a
wise man called Bidpai, which is probably a Sanskrit word meaning
"court scholar."

The fables of the Panchatantra found their way to Europe through

oral folklore channels and by way of Persian and Arabic translations.
They substantially influenced medieval writers of fables.

The Fish That Were Too Clever

Two fish lived in a pond. Their names were Satabuddhi (having the
understanding of a hundred) and Sahasrabuddhi (having the
understanding of a thousand). The two of them had a frog for a friend,
whose name was Ekabuddhi (having the understanding of one).

For a time they would enjoy friendly conversation on the bank, and
then they would return to the water. One day when they had gathered
for conversation, some fishermen came by just as the sun was setting.
They were carrying nets in their hands and many dead fish on their
heads.

When the fishermen saw the pond, they said to one another, "There
seem to be a lot of fish in this pond, and the water is very low. Let us
come back here tomorrow morning!" After saying this, they went
home.

These words struck the three friends like a thunderbolt, and they took
counsel with one another.

The frog said, "Oh, my dear Satabuddhi and Sahasrabuddhi, what shall
we do? Should we flee, or stay here?"

Hearing this, Sahasrabuddhi laughed and said, "Oh, my friend, don't be

afraid of words alone! They probably will not come back. But even if
they do come back, I will be able to protect myself and you as well,
through the power of my understanding, for I know many pathways
through the water."

After hearing this, Satabuddhi said, "Yes, what Sahasrabuddhi says is

correct, for one rightly says: Where neither the wind nor the sun's rays have
found a way, intelligent understanding will quickly make a path. And also:
Everything on earth
 is subject to the understanding of those with intelligence. Why should one
abandon the place of one's birth that has been passed down from
generation to generation, just because of words? We must not retreat
a single step! I will protect you through the power of my
understanding."

The frog said, "I have but one wit, and it is advising me to flee. This
very day I shall go with my wife to another pond."

After saying this, as soon as it was night, the frog went to another pond.

Early the next day the fishermen came like servants of the god of
death and spread their nets over the pond. All the fish, turtles, frogs,
crabs, and other water creatures were caught in the nets and captured,
also Satabuddhi and Sahasrabuddhi, although they fled, and through
their knowledge of the various paths escaped for a while by swimming
to and fro. But they too, together with their wives, fell into a net and
were killed.

That afternoon the fishermen happily set forth toward home. Because
of his weight, one of them carried Satabuddhi on his head. They tied
Sahasrabuddhi onto a string and dragged him along behind.

The frog Ekabuddhi, who had climbed onto the bank of his pond, said
to his wife, "Look, dear! Mr. Hundred-Wit lies on someone's head, and
Mr. Thousand-Wit is hanging from a string. But Mr. Single-Wit, my dear,
is playing here in the clear water."

Click here for further reading: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/panchatantra.html

7. Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

The Gitanjali Song Offerings poetry collection by Rabindranath Tagore

was first published in the Bengali language in 1910. The English
version, Song Offerings, was published in 1912 with translations by
Tagore, with a second edition following in 1913. Later that year, Tagore
received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Gitanjali 35
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic
walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary
desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country
awake.

Unending Love

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless

times… In life after life, in age after age, forever.
My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of
songs, That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in
your many forms, In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age-

old pain, Its ancient tale of being apart or
together.
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you
emerge, Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the
darkness of time: You become an image of what is
remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from
the fount. At the heart of time, love of one for another.
We have played alongside millions of lovers, shared in the
same Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears
of farewell- Old love but in shapes that renew and renew
forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its

end in you The love of all man’s days both past
and forever: Universal joy, universal sorrow,
universal life.
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of
ours – And the songs of every poet past and forever.