Tradition and verse — not medical advice

The Rainy Day

Rabindranath Tagore, The Crescent Moon (1913, Macmillan and Company). Public domain.

Shown in author's own English -- not a translation we made.

Sullen clouds are gathering fast over the black fringe of the forest.

O child, do not go out!

The palm trees in a row by the lake are smiting their heads against the dismal sky; the crows with their draggled wings are silent on the tamarind branches, and the eastern bank of the river is haunted by a deepening gloom.

Our cow is lowing loud, tied at the fence.

O child, wait here till I bring her into the stall.

The evening lamps must be made ready.

O child, do not go out!

In plain words (ours, not the poet's): a parent gently calls a child to stay safe indoors as a storm gathers outside, tending to the animals and the lamps before evening falls.

Why public domain: Tagore wrote The Crescent Moon in English himself, first published London 1913. US: pre-1929 publication, public domain in the US. Tagore died 1941; public domain in India (life + 60 years) since 2002.

Read the original in full

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