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by Rabindranath Tagore — a poem card from Justes Mots

The speaker praises a divine lord's sword as more beautiful than jewels, invoking imagery of lightning and ecstatic death. Tagore's lyric celebrates terrible beauty and spiritual intensity, contrasting material ornament with transcendent power. Suits meditation on the sacred and the sublime.

Beautiful is thy wristlet, decked with stars and cunningly wrought in
myriad-coloured jewels. But more beautiful to me thy sword with its curve of
lightning like the outspread wings of the divine bird of Vishnu, perfectly
poised in the angry red light of the sunset.

It quivers like the one last response of life in ecstasy of pain at the final
stroke of death; it shines like the pure flame of being burning up earthly
sense with one fierce flash.…

Themes: love · new-baby · wedding · friendship