Question by R. Tagore___ translated by Ranu
Tagore in 1879, when he was studying in England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The title of this poem is ‘Question’
O God,you sent messengers so many times
in this cruel world___
they said,’forgive all, ‘said give love___
remove all bad thoughts from your heart’.
they are respected, they are remembered, still outside
in these bad times their efforts failed.
I saw secret jealousy in the insincere darkness
how it hit the helpless people.
I saw ____no justice against the criminals
the verdict went against the innocent and made them cry quietly.
I saw young boys running to save their lives
what a painful death they suffered.
My voice is silent today, my flute has lost its melody.
In this dark fortnight who has
destroyed my world that seems like a nightmare.
This is why I ask you with tearful eyes____
P question (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
those who have poisoned your air, turned off your lights,
did you forgive them, did you love them?
Sabethville 
Dear Ranu,
Thank you very much for this most beautiful poem.
How very poignant how we question the Divine, the world being sometimes so painfully difficult to comprehend.
All good wishes,
robert
I know who else can we ask.God is the one who will have the answers.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment,Robert.
Sometimes forgiving is very hard but man has to forgive others because every man errs and make mistakes, God has a right to forgive or not because He is without blemish.
I am guilty of that myself, I have a difficult time of forgetting,and therefore
forgiving to me is out of question.My mother being as religious as she was, always
pointed out the flaws in my thinking.I understand it fully .My stubborn nature
sometimes takes over. When Tagore wrote this poem,he must have felt as I feel sometimes,
when I’m angry. To me it seems he is almost wanting God to agree with him.We know God is
above all this and He knows human nature. Tagore knew that,but he was at a stage when He thought
the crimes committed by man against his own kind cannot be forgiven.He says, ‘those who poisoned your
air and turned off your lights,did you forgive them,did you love them?’ It is such a beautiful poem.
Thank you for your beautiful comment.
Chaman
Tagore means that how can we ask forgivness from God when we have never excercised this in our lives and God cannot grant us anything which we do not have in the basket of our deeds as we are paid for which we have earned.
You are right Mr.Dar. I was thinking about the lines where Tagore said I have lost my voice
which happens when there is too much emotion.And he said my flute has lost its melody.Then he talks about the terrible
dark fortnight where there was so much destruction,he felt he had a nightmare. This is why I am asking with my eyes full of tears.
Those who have poisoned the air,took away the light, do you forgive them,do you love them? I felt while reading it, Tagore wanted some
kind of satisfaction from God that the criminals will be punished. When I read this I felt,it probably was written when the British
were the rulers in India. He has given a date but it is the Bengali year and it is different from what we follow. I am unable to figure it out. I might try on the internet to get this information. Thank you.
Chaman