Song 36 from the GITANJALI

Song 36 from the GITANJALI

By Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

This is my prayer to thee, my lord -

strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly

to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength

to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength

never to disown the poor

or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind

high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength

to surrender my strength

to thy will with love.

Do not leave me, Lord

Lord, you gave me my life and guide it, do not abandon me to my wicked thoughts; never let haughty looks be mine, nor the assaults of passion come near me; do not leave me, Lord, at the mercy of a shameless and unprofitable mind.

Lord, do not abandon me, lest my mistakes multiply and my sins increase: do not leave me, Lord, at the mercy of a shameless and unprofitable mind.


參閱 德 23,4-6.1-3 領：上主、天父，我生命的 天主。不要拋棄我、而致思念邪惡；也不要使我的眼睛高傲，和順從情慾。
答：上主，不要讓我有一顆 無恥而愚昧的心。
領：上主，求祢不要離棄 我，不要讓我的無知日增， 也不要讓我的罪惡加多。 答：上主，不要讓我有一顆 無恥而愚昧的心。

Dómine, pater et Deus vitæ meæ, ne derelínquas me in cogitátu malígno; extolléntiam oculórum meórum ne déderis mihi, et desidérium malígnum avérte a me, Dómine.* Et ánimo irreverénti et infruníto ne tradas me, Dómine.

V. Ne derelínquas me, Dómine, ne accréscant ignorántiæ meæ, nec multiplicéntur delícta mea.

(Responsory, 7th Week, Wednesday, Readings.  Cf. Eccli 23, 4-6. 3)

Tu vero reppulísti et reiecísti, * irátus es contra christum tuum;
evertísti testaméntum servi tui, * profanásti in terram diadéma eius.
Destruxísti omnes muros eius, * posuísti munitiónes eius in ruínas.
Diripuérunt eum omnes transeúntes viam, * factus est oppróbrium vicínis suis.
Exaltásti déxteram depriméntium eum, * lætificásti omnes inimícos eius.
Avertísti áciem gládii eius * et non es auxiliátus ei in bello.
Finem posuísti splendóri eius * et sedem eius in terram collisísti.
Minorásti dies iuventútis eius, * perfudísti eum confusióne.

Usquequo, Dómine, abscondéris in finem, * exardéscet sicut ignis ira tua?
Memoráre, quam brevis mea substántia. * Ad quam vanitátem creásti omnes fílios hóminum?
Quis est homo, qui vivet et non vidébit mortem, * éruet ánimam suam de manu ínferi?
Ubi sunt misericórdiæ tuæ antíquæ, Dómine, * sicut iurásti David in veritáte tua?
Memor esto, Dómine, oppróbrii servórum tuórum, * quod contínui in sinu meo, multárum géntium,
quo exprobravérunt inimíci tui, Dómine, * quo exprobravérunt vestígia christi tui.
Benedíctus Dóminus in ætérnum. * Fiat, fiat.

But you have spurned and rejected him;
you are enraged against your anointed.
You have repudiated the covenant of your servant,
you have trampled his crown in the dust.
You have demolished his walls
and laid his fortifications in ruins.
Anyone who passes can despoil him;
he is a mockery among his neighbours.

You have strengthened the arm of those who oppress him,
you have gladdened the hearts of his enemies.
You have turned back the sharp edge of his sword;
you have deprived him of your help in battle.
You have put an end to his splendour,
and cast his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him from head to foot in shame.

How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself? For ever?
Will your anger always burn like fire?
Remember how short is my time.
Was it truly so pointless, your creation of man?
Who is the man who can live and not die,
who can save his life from the grasp of the underworld?

Where are the kindnesses you showed us of old?
Where is the truth of your oath to David?
Remember, Lord, how your servants are taunted,
the taunts I bear in my bosom, the taunts of the nations –
the insults of your enemies, Lord,
the insults that follow the steps of your anointed!

(Psalm 89: 39-53)

(This prayer was uttered while the Jews were in exile in Babylon. They had lost their land, their king, the Temple...)

Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, and he began to pray:
Oh! Do not abandon us for ever,
for the sake of your name;
do not repudiate your covenant,
do not withdraw your favour from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your friend,
of Isaac your servant,
and of Israel your holy one,
to whom you promised descendants as countless as the stars of heaven
and as the grains of sand on the seashore.

Lord, now we are the least of all the nations,
now we are despised throughout the world, today, because of our sins.
We have at this time no leader, no prophet, no prince,
no holocaust, no sacrifice, no oblation, no incense,
no place where we can offer you the first-fruits
and win your favour.

But may the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to you
as holocausts of rams and bullocks,
as thousands of fattened lambs:
such let our sacrifice be to you today,
and may it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly,
since those who put their trust in you will not be disappointed.

And now we put our whole heart into following you,
into fearing you and seeking your face once more.
Do not disappoint us;
treat us gently, as you yourself are gentle
and very merciful.
Grant us deliverance worthy of your wonderful deeds,
let your name win glory, Lord.

(Daniel 3:25-43)

There was a time when I thought that one had to limit the 'prayer of petition'. That time has passed. The further I advance along the road mapped out for me by Providence, the more I feel I need to have recourse to this kind of prayer....

(John Paul II, Be not afraid, p 34)

2 Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me
neque in ira tua corripias me.
3 Miserere mei, Domine, quoniam infirmus sum;
sana me, Domine, quoniam conturbata sunt ossa mea.
4 Et anima mea turbata est valde,
sed tu, Domine, usquequo?
5 Convertere, Domine, eripe animam meam;
salvum me fac propter misericordiam tuam.
6 Quoniam non est in morte, qui memor sit tui;
in inferno autem quis confitebitur tibi?
7 Laboravi in gemitu meo,
lavabam per singulas noctes lectum meum;
lacrimis meis stratum meum rigabam.
8 Turbatus est a maerore oculus meus,
inveteravi inter omnes inimicos meos.
9 Discedite a me, omnes, qui operamini iniquitatem,
quoniam exaudivit Dominus vocem fletus mei.
10 Exaudivit Dominus deprecationem meam,
Dominus orationem meam suscepit.

Lord, do not condemn me in your fury:
do not destroy me in your anger.
Take pity on me, Lord, for I am sick;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in disarray.
My spirit is deeply disturbed,
and you, Lord – how long?
Turn to me, Lord, rescue my spirit:
in your pity, save me.
If I die, how can I praise you?
Can anyone in the underworld proclaim your name?
I struggle and groan,
soak my bed with weeping night after night;
my eyes are troubled with sadness:
I grow older as my enemies watch.
Leave me, all who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my voice as I wept.
The Lord listened to my prayer,
granted me what I asked.

(Psalms 6:2-10 Neovulgate)

[A psalm for the dark night of the soul]
I cry out to you, Lord, by day and by night.
Lord God, my saviour,
I have cried out to you by day and by night.
Let my prayer come before you:
turn your ear to my request.

For my soul is full of evils,
my life has come close to its end.
I am counted with those who go down to the pit:
I am left without help.
I am one of the dead,
like the murdered who sleep in their tombs,
who lie there forgotten,
cut off from your care.

You have thrust me down into the pit,
to the gloom and the shadow of death.
Your anger weighs heavy upon me;
you have drowned me under your waves.

You have taken my friends away from me:
you have made me hateful in their sight,
I am shut in, I may not go out.
My eyes are weak from my sufferings.
I have called to you, Lord, all the day;
I have stretched out my hands to you.
Is it for the dead that you perform your wonders?
Will the ghosts rise up and proclaim you?
In the tomb, will they tell of your kindness?
Will they tell of your faithfulness in the place of the lost?
Will your wonders be known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

And so I have called out to you, Lord,
and in the morning my prayer will come before you.
With what purpose, Lord, do you reject my soul?
Why do you hide your face from me?
I am poor; from my youth I have been dying;
I have borne the terrors you sent, I am lost in confusion.
Your anger has overrun me, your terrors have broken me:
they have flowed round me like water,
they have besieged me all the day long.
You have taken my friends and those close to me:
all I have left is shadows.

(Psalm 88)

2 Usquequo, Domine, oblivisceris me in finem?
Usquequo avertes faciem tuam a me?
3 Usquequo ponam consilia in anima mea,
dolorem in corde meo per diem?
Usquequo exaltabitur inimicus meus super me?
4 Respice et exaudi me, Domine Deus meus.
Illumina oculos meos, ne quando obdormiam in morte,
5 ne quando dicat inimicus meus: “ Praevalui adversus eum! ”;
neque exsultent, qui tribulant me, si motus fuero.
6 Ego autem in misericordia tua speravi.
Exsultabit cor meum in salutari tuo;
cantabo Domino, qui bona tribuit mihi.

1 How long, O LORD? Wilt thou forget me for ever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain* in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him";
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in thy steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

(Psalm 13)