make free the path

Move away, make free the path;
Your mind is heavy with the burden of doubt.
The stream of life flows lightly
With the music of murmuring waters,
With the frenzy of ecstatic joy.
Its waves alone lighten the burden of the Past,
And by their restless thrust
Straighten the tortuous ways of life.
Their clash
Sets free the tangles of life’s net,
Cleanses all pollution,
And takes away life’s weariness.

They are like clouds
Drinking in the morning light;
Like countless waves of the sea,
Like the exuberance of aimless winds,
Like the ceaseless flow of trees
That rejoice the heart of earth,
Like the first streaks of light
At the edge of ancient night.
They are children playing on the shore,
Maidens radiant in their youth,
Heroes who with courage conquer danger,
Their chains, echo the song of freedom
In their hearts.
They have no fears,
No worries for the future—
Over the future they are victorious.

At the call of the Unknown
From everywhere they emerge;
In darkness and in light
Rush to meet what lies ahead.
Begone, O Coward!
Bent under your burden of doubt.

[Rabindranath Tagore, '7. The Free Path', from Later Poems of Rabindranath Tagore]