Poem Analysis - The Gardener 28 But It Is Love

Introduction: The Elusive Nature of Love

Rabindranath Tagore's "The Gardener 28: But it is love" explores the complex and often paradoxical nature of love. The poem adopts a tone of gentle frustration, tinged with profound adoration, as the speaker attempts to convey the immensity of their love to their beloved. The mood subtly shifts from a defensive explanation to an acceptance of love's inherent unknowability, highlighting the limitations of language and understanding in capturing its essence. Ultimately, the poem suggests that while love can be felt and experienced, it cannot be fully comprehended or contained.

Love as a Boundless Entity

One of the poem's central themes is the boundless and immeasurable nature of love. The speaker contrasts love with easily definable objects like gems and flowers, which can be broken down, possessed, or simply given away. "If it were only a gem I could break it into a hundred pieces... If it were only a flower, round and small and sweet, I could pluck it from its stem..." These lines emphasize the ease with which tangible things can be manipulated and understood. However, love, being a "heart," defies such simple categorization. The questions "Where are its shores and its bottom?" powerfully illustrate love's lack of boundaries and depths, presenting it as an infinite ocean, challenging the beloved's ability to fathom it completely.

Imagery of Tangibility vs. Intangibility

The poem masterfully employs imagery to contrast the tangible with the intangible, further emphasizing the complexities of love. The speaker provides examples of things that are easy to offer and understand. A gem turned into a necklace, a flower placed in hair, a smile revealing pleasure, and tears expressing pain; each is a concrete representation of an emotion or object. The moon seeking to "fathom the sea" can be interpreted as another example of this. The ocean, like love, has no limits and depths and represents that which can never be fully known. The sea is like his heart and the moon, although close and reflective, can never fully grasp it.

The Queen of an Uncharted Kingdom

Another key theme explored in the poem is the paradoxical relationship between knowing and unknowing within love. The speaker states, "You know not the limits of this kingdom, still you are its queen." This line suggests that the beloved holds dominion over the speaker's heart, even without fully understanding its vastness. The kingdom of the heart implies complete surrender and devotion on the part of the speaker, yet it is a kingdom whose boundaries remain undefined to both parties. This hints at the possibility that to truly love is to accept a degree of mystery and uncertainty, allowing the other person freedom within the relationship, even if it means accepting they will never fully know your heart.

The Paradox of Proximity and Distance

The final theme is the inherent paradox of love's nearness and distance. The poem concludes with the lines, "It is as near to you as your life, but you can never wholly know it." This highlights the fact that while love can be the most intimate and pervasive force in one's life, it always retains an element of mystery. The speaker implies that the beloved's inability to "wholly know" their love is not a failing, but rather an intrinsic characteristic of its boundless nature. It is this very unknowability that ensures love's continued growth and exploration.

Conclusion: Embracing the Mystery of Love

In "The Gardener 28: But it is love," Tagore beautifully captures the ineffable nature of love, portraying it as a force that defies definition and containment. Through vivid imagery and a tone of gentle acceptance, the poem encourages us to embrace the mystery inherent in love, acknowledging that while it may never be fully understood, it can be deeply felt and experienced. The poem's lasting significance lies in its honest portrayal of love's complexities, reminding us that true connection lies not in complete understanding, but in accepting the endless depths of another's heart.