The Divine Vagabond

By Harindranath Chattophadyaya (1898 - 1990) with a Foreword by Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa (1875–1953).

Chattopadyaya 135 Pages | Published on Sept. 2nd 1950 | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | No ISBN.

From the Foreword:

For over half a century the poetry of England and the United States has been balefully influenced by the prevailing materialism of our age. They remind me of our Indian ants, who bite the yellow rind only and never penetrate into the sweet pulp. The Poetry of today with its rhythms and imageries appeals mainly to the mind. Not that they are not exquisite in their way; they can certainly do give delight. Yet nevertheless, it can be said of these poets:

'Tis ye, 'tis your estrang-ed faces,

That miss the many-splendoured thing'.

Of course here and there are a few exceptions like Alice Meynell, Francis Thompson, A.E. Yeats, Cousins and a few others. But in the main, I who love poetry greatly, have felt a profound dissatisfaction with the poems I have read.

From the Prelude:

" I AM a vagabond, but never ask me
From where I came.
I only know that I came like a shadow,
I'll pass like a flame.
Every man that you meet on the roadway
And in the street,
Without his knowing hides a great vagabond's
Tune in his feet.
What is the sun but a vagabond's laughter?
What are the stars but a vagabond's tears?
And the wide world is a wandering vagabond
Looking for some one through the long years. "