Introduction of the Poem:
The poem entitled, “Here Is Thy Footstool” is a poem of great devotion. This poem preaches us that we should never look down upon the poor, the deprived and the unfortunate because God resides among them. God does not make any discrimination between rich and poor and high and low. All these distinctions have been formed by men on the base of orthodox ideas. These distinctions are based on pride and vanity. The poet says that the people run after God in temples, mosques and churches and worship Him with great pomp, but in this way God does not accept our worship and prayers. One can make approach to God through love and service of the suffering humanity.
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| R.N. Tagore’s Poem 9 Entitled Here Is Thy Footstool—Summary and Critical Analysis |
Some Critical Points of the Poem:
1. God does not reside in magnificent structures called temples, mosques and churches. God resides in the heart of simple and humble people.
2. Loving the poor, the deprived, the unfortunate is the surest way of realizing God.
3. People desirous of serving and worshipping God should serve the deprived and suffering humanity.
4. God loves simplicity and not ostentation or pride.
5. God does not like pride and ugly display of wealth or any other talent or accomplishment.
6. The poet confesses that he can never reach God because he has not been able to purify his heart of discriminatory thoughts and feelings.
Summary of the Poem:
Stanza:
Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.
When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.
Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.
My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost.
Explanatory Word - Meanings:
1. Here is thy ... lost = God resides among the poorest, the lowliest and the lost. 2. Here= at this place. 3. Footstool = God's residence. 4. Lowliest = downtrodden. 5. Lost = the unfortunate people. 6. When I try ... lost = the poet says that no words of prayer and worship can reach Him if he has no love for the suffering humanity. Love for the poorest, lowliest and lost is the greatest worship of God. 7. Bow= pay respect. 8. Obeisance = homage; tribute, worship 9. Pride ... lost= the rich and the proud cannot find Him amidst the humble and the poor. 10. My heart ... the lost = the poet confesses that he can never reach God because he has not been able to purify his heart of discriminating thoughts and feelings.
Paraphrase:
The poet says that a man cannot truly serve God if he keeps himself away from the service of man. God resides among the poorest, the lowliest and the lost. God does not discriminate among human being. The distinctions of high, low, rich, poor, are man - made and based on vanity and pride. If we want to worship God, we must be ready to worship the lowliest and poorest. This we cannot do unless we give up pride and vanity. The poet advocates the adoption of a life of poverty and company of the poor. Lastly the poet assures that one can find the Creator only at the abode of the needy, companionless and deprived people. By loving and serving the downtrodden one can wish to approach God.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
Introduction:
The poem entitled, “Here Is Thy Footstool” is, without the least doubt, devotional, mundane achievements - worldly possessions like wealth and scholarship - lead to covetousness and make people vain. The vanity leads to their segregation from the common humanity. Vain people are vain because they labour under misconception of being superior. Any heart or mind tainted with pride cannot be the abode of God. God does not reside in magnificent structures called temples, mosques or churches. God resides in the heart of simple and humble people most of whom are poor, deprived and unfortunate. Such people have absolute faith in God. This poem, obviously, exhorts us to be sensitive towards the pain, misery and needs of our unfortunate fellow beings. In their love and service we offer worship to God and reach him.
Thought - Content:
In the poem, the poet says that no words of prayer and worship can reach Him if he has no love for the suffering humanity. Love for the poorest, and lowliest and lost is the greatest worship of God. The true worship of God means complete communion with common humanity on terms of equality and brotherhood. The rich and the proud cannot find him amidst the humble and the poor. The allurement of the glittering externals of life blinds them to the sorrows and sufferings of the poor. Therefore, they cannot worship the living God among the poorest, and lowliest and lost. We should try to find Him out with a spirit of humility, and not with pride and vanity, in the midst of the humble and the companionless.
Tagore's Intense Love for the Suffering Humanity:
Like all true religion men, Tagore has intense love for the oppressed and the persecuted, for the misfits, for the non-conformists, for the homeless and the rejected. Man is the image of God. We should love every creature, the naked and the hungry, the sick and the stranger. Through this poem, the poet wishes to convey that loving the poor, the deprived, the unfortunate is the surest way of realizing God. People desirous of serving and worshipping God should serve the deprived and suffering humanity.
Tagore's Mysticism:
According to Tagore, God dwells in each man. We should love and respect each person as the image of Eternal:
“Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, the lowliest, and lost.”
Man can elevate himself morally and spiritually, if he lives a life of simplicity and close communion with his fellow human beings and nature. Divorced from God, man is a poor and miserable creature. The farther he travels away from nature, the more degraded he becomes.
Language and Style:
Tagore's poetry is remarkable for the exquisite blending of the harmony of thoughts, feelings and melody of words. He chooses apt and highly suggestive words from a teeming treasure. His words are easy, simple and highly suggestive. He employs apt and simple vocabulary to communicate deep spiritual feelings. Felicity and melodiousness of expression are the cardinal features of his style. Sometimes, a single word is so artistically used as it makes the meaning amply clear. His language is close to the everyday language of man. There is hardly an unfamiliar word. Simplicity and sublimity run together in his poetry. The use of archaisms like thee, thy and thou imparts antique flavour to Tagore's diction and reveals the soul's ardent yearning for complete identification with God. For instance:
“Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.”
“...... where thy feet rest among the poorest , and lowliest , and lost.”
In the present poem, the poet has made a very clever and effective use of the device of repetition. All the four stanzas conclude with the 'poorest’, ‘lowliest’ and ‘lost’. It is almost a refrain and makes a lasting and powerful impression on the psyche of reader.
