Summary of the poem The Journey by Rabindranath Tagore
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first Movement: Beautiful Morning Landscape
In the first movement, the speaker describes the beautiful morning landscape that surrounds him and his fellow travelers as they set out on their trek. The first line features an exquisite metaphor; the early "silence" is compared to a sea that breaks into "ripples of bird songs."
As the birds are singing, the flowers by the pathway appear to be "all merry." The sky spreads out a golden glow that is "scattered through the rift of the clouds." The speaker then asserts that he and his fellow travelers are in a hurry to begin their hike, and they therefore do not notice nor appreciate the beauty that has already welcomed them.
Second Movement: Deadly Somber
We sang no glad songs nor played;
we went not to the village for barter;
we spoke not a word nor smiled;
we lingered not on the way.
We quickened our pace more and more as the time sped by.
The speaker then declares that he and his companions are quite serious in their travel experience; thus, "[w]e sang no glad songs nor played." They did not even bother to visit anymore, nor did they go, "to the village for barter." They were so deadly somber that they did not even bother to speak or smile. They did not dawdle anywhere. They were in such a great hurry that they "quickened [their] pace more and more as the time sped by."
Third Movement: Taking a Breather
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By noon, the speaker is paying attention to the position of the sun, and he notes that doves are "coo[ing] in the shade." He notices that a shepherd boy is reclining in the shade of a tree. With the sun so hot and the doves and shepherd boy partaking of a relief from action, the speaker decides to stop his own trek; thus, he "laid [him]self down by the water / and stretched [his] tired limbs on the grass."
Fourth Movement: Suffering Ridicule
The speaker's travelmates taunt him for desiring to rest, and they continue on with their journey: "they held their heads high and hurried on; / they never looked back nor rested; / they vanished in the distant blue haze." The speaker, nevertheless, keeps his position with the intention of enjoying his rest as the others continue with their rushed pace.
Fifth Movement: Continuing To Be Lazy
The speaker observes that his fellows are continuing to march over "meadows and hills,"—not being lazy as he was. The speaker's fellow travelers continue to move "through strange, far-away countries." He gives them kudos for their venturesome nature, and he admits that he had experienced some guilt for remaining in leisure and not accompanying them, but he just could not spur himself on to continue on that particular journey.
Sixth Movement: Ambiguity
The speaker then testifies that he has ambiguous feelings: on the one hand, he feels "lost" because he is not with the crowd; but on the other hand, his possesses a "glad humiliation," and he feels that he must be standing "in the shadow of a dim delight."
Seventh Movement: Reconsidering Reason for the Trek
As the speaker continues to lounge about, he notices that sunset is "spread[ing] over his heart," unveiling for a second time his feelings of ambiguity: the gloom is "sun-embroidered," similar to the expression, "every cloud has a silver lining."
The loafing speaker then confesses that he can no longer even recall why he set out on this trek in the first place, so he just lets himself go, no longer combating his true leanings any longer. He permits his mind and heart to go musing through, "the maze of shadows and songs."
Eighth Movement: Approaching the Door of the Divine
At last, the speaker is awakened from his ambiguous stupor, and he realizes that he has found what he was looking for. He had feared that "the path was long and wearisome / and the struggle to reach [the Divine Beloved] was hard."
But in the end, he has finally discovered that all he had to do was allow his inner self to approach the door of the Divine Beloved. All extraneous journeys become unnecessary in that exalted environment.
The Journey by Rabindranath Tagore emphasizes the spiritual journey. The poem describes the human journey of life. The poet tried to add positivity by telling the nature’s connection with human, which we ignore in our fast pace of life.
The poet starts a venture with his fellow beings and haste to reach the destination but on the way, he tries to relax by resting his body on the mother earth. But, to his surprise, he notices none other needs rest as all were worried to reach the destination.
The poet couldn’t accompany them as he is not having the same level of energy and rather he wants to enjoy his journey and move peacefully. During the whole journey, he feels he is towing some kind of weight which he dislikes at some corner of his heart.
Later, he realized it was a mere dream not the reality. Thus, realizes the essence of life’s journey is to realize the inner spiritual growth rather moving in haste towards an unknown destination.