The Silken Tassel/An Indian Funeral Song

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An Indian Funeral Song
What are your smiles of the golden morn,
And what are your pearly tears?
What are your strifes for a hope forlorn,
And what are your swords and spears?
What is the hollow delight that assures you
A transient bliss that nothing secures you?—
All are the charms of the Māyā[1] that lures you
To an ever-receding gleam:
    Rām bolo, bhai Rām,
    Rām bolo, bhai Rām,
The world is all but a dream!

What are your marble towers and halls,
And what are your gardens and flowers?
What are your gem-deck’d turbans and shawls
And what are your kingly powers?
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What is your strength when the earth will shake you?
What are your knowledge and wealth that make you?
For Yama[2] is waiting to call and take you
From these glories that seem:
    Rām bolo, bhai Rām,
    Rām bolo, bhai Rām,[3]
The world is all but a dream!

  1. ↑ Illusion which causes one to regard the Supreme Spirit and the Universe as two distinct realities (in the Vedanta Philosophy).
  2. ↑ The God of Death, Pluto.
  3. ↑ A cry used by the Hindus while carrying the dead body to the burning ground, meaning "Brothers, take the name of God!"
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