The Año Viejo has gone and the New Year has come, but somehow I still feel quiet and silent.
Rather than my own words, today the spirit of poetry moves me to share “Song 36” from the classic Gitanjali by the Bengali sage Rabindranath Tagore.
I offer it, with a personal touch according to my own belief, as a prayer for Año Nuevo:
This is my prayer to you, my [loving God] — strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to your will with love.
Daniel G. Campos 
Rabindranath Tagore was not a sage. He is a human being. His father, Debendranath Tagore a holy man who established new Brahmasamaj after Raja Rammohan Roy. Rabindranath Tagore was a great poet and follower of Keshav Chand Sen and Debendranath Tagore. He was a romantic poet , but like mystic Indian sage he took shelter in devotional World when he lost his father, son , daughter and wife during 1905 to 1909. This time he stayed at Shantiniketan and established Brahma Vidyalaya. He tried to sink into his inner being. Indian sage is something different from his Lifestyle. They used to give up all their worldly relationship and works. And live in isolated place .
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Thank you for you explanation of what a sage really is, and for your biographical notes related to Tagore’s path and poetry.
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