I am restless

i am restless. i am athirst for far-away things.
my soul goes out in a longing to touch the skirt of the dim distance.
o great beyond, o the keen call of thy flute!
i forget, i ever forget, that i have no wings to fly, that i am bound in this spot evermore.

i am eager and wakeful, i am a stranger in a strange land.
thy breath comes to me whispering an impossible hope.
thy tongue is known to my heart as its very own.
o far-to-seek, o the keen call of thy flute!
i forget, i ever forget, that i know not the way, that i have not the winged horse.

i am listless, i am a wanderer in my heart.
in the sunny haze of the languid hours, what vast vision of thine takes shape in the blue of the sky!
o farthest end, o the keen call of thy flute!
i forget, i ever forget, that the gates are shut everywhere in the house where i dwell alone!
Rabindranath Tagore