Week 1 Sci 151 Essay - 1268 Words

Complete the outline following the instructions above. Use the example as a guide, using complete sentences for all subpoints. 1. Our place in the universe a. The modern view of the universe 1) What is our Sun and what is its role in the solar system? a. The Sun is a fairly ordinary but large star. b. The Sun is the focal point of our solar system, because all of the planets orbit the Sun. 2) What is our Milky Way galaxy and the sun’s position in it? a. The Milky Way galaxy is where our solar system is located in the universe. b. The Milky Way galaxy is home to over 100 billion stars and the Sun is one of those stars. 3) What is the Big Bang and what does it say about the age of the universe? a. The Big Bang is when the†¦show more content†¦Compare that to fast things in day-to-day life. a. The Earth revolves around the Sun about 60,000 miles per hours. b. This could be similar to driving a race car as fast as possible around an oval type track. 2) How is our Sun moving in the galaxy? a.)The Sun is moving by orbiting the center of the galaxy. b.) The Sun makes this revolution every 230 million years 3) How are the galaxies around the Milky Way galaxy moving from our point of view? a. The galaxies around the Milky Way galaxy are moving farther away. b. The farther away a galaxy is the faster it appears to be moving away. c. Space is constantly expanding and this somewhat pushes galaxies farther away. 2. The sky and the science of astronomy a. Explain the significance of the celestial sphere. 1) What important directions and coordinate systems help you find your way around the sky? 2) Why are there different brightness of stars and how do we describe their brightness as compared to one another? a. Stars may appear brighter because they are burning hotter than other stars around them. b. Some stars may appear brighter because they are larger than other stars. 3) What are constellations? a. Constellations are defined regions within the sky. b. Patterns in stars help locate these regions. 4) What is Polaris and what is its significance in the sky? a. Polaris is commonly known as the North Star. b. Polaris is the closestShow MoreRelatedBasics of Astronomy Outline993 Words   |  4 PagesSCI/151 Week 1 Assignment Basics of Astronomy Outline I. Our place in the universe A. The modern view of the universe 1. The Sun is a star in our solar system that generates heat and light to our planet, Earth through nuclear fusion. 2. Our Milky Way galaxy is an island of stars in space with hundreds of billions of stars like our Sun. 3. The Big Bang is a theory of when the universe started expanding about 14 billion years ago. 4. The phase â€Å"looking out in the universe is looking backRead MoreEggshell Membrane Reduces Joint Pain Essay4517 Words   |  19 Pagesplacebo, over the course of 4 weeks. Participants also completed a weekly exercise protocol designed to challenge their irritated joint. Participants then rated their joint pain immediately, and one day after, this exercise challenge. RESulTS Participants in the FJC+ group reported significantly less joint pain post-exercise following FJC+ supplementation (-16.13  ± 3.60) when compared to those in the placebo group (–4.30  ± 2.84; p=0.00171). In addition, during the 4 week study, both groups experiencedRead MoreMASR 431 442 Libre3566 Words   |  15 Pages2013 Academy of Business Scientific Research www.absronline.org/masr ï‚ § Research Paper The Impact of Rewards on Employee’s Job Performance and Job Satisfaction Zeeshan Fareed1*, Zain Ul Abidan2, Farrukh Shahzad3, Umm-e-Amen4, and Rab Nawaz Lodhi5 1. MS Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, CIIT, Sahiwal, Pakistan 2. MBA, Department of Management Sciences, University of Education, Okara Campus, Pakistan 34. B.Com (Hons.), Hailey College of Commerce, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan 5.Read MoreThe Impact of Motivation on Students Academic Achievement and Learning Outcomes in Mathematics Among Secondary School Students in Nigeria5286 Words   |  22 Pages(Oshibodu, 1988, Edwards and Knight, 1994), large pupils to A. Tella Pupils  fails   mathematics   Negative  attitude   developed  towards   subjects Lack  of  interest  in   the  subject   Teacher  discouraged,  resorts  to   traditional  methods  of  teaching   Figure 1. Illustration of factors affecting teaching and learning of Mathematics: Source- Aremu (1998) teacher ratio (Alele-Williams 1988) mathematics fright/phobia (Georgewill, 1990) and so on. Wentzel (1998) stated that interest in activities tends to increaseRead MoreTreatment Of Surgery, Cryotherapy, And Imiquimod Cream- Treatments For Basal Cell Carcinoma3559 Words   |  15 Pagesthan woman, however exclusions in this research are patients with morphoiec or recurrent BCC and those with Gorlin syndrome. The two focused group in this study are the participants receiving an imiquimod 5% cream once daily for 6 weeks for superficial BCC or 12 weeks for nodular BCC and participants receiving surgical excision with a 4 mm margin. Imiquimod is a topical cream indicated for treatment of external genital warts, superficial basal cell carcinoma and actinic keratoses in adults . ThisRead MoreExperimental Study On Different Flavourings Cat Medicine By Raman Spectroscopy2324 Words   |  10 Pagespoloxamer 407, magnesium stearate, water with or without different flavorings include 2-acetylpyridine, 2-acetylthiazole, 4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3 (2H)-furanone, L-methionine, L-leucine, thiamine hydrochloride and combination of two flavorings from above. 1.Raman Spectroscopy Indian scientist C.V. Raman was the first person who made the experimental observation in 1928 (Raman, 1928; Raman and Krishnan, 1928,1929). Raman spectroscopy is a technique which is similar to infrared (IR) spectroscopy: they areRead MoreThe Importance Of Systematic Synthetic Phonics For School Reading Schemes And Then From The School s Library Of Classic Books2530 Words   |  11 Pagesread for pleasure whenever possible. I loved reading to my own children from birth and chose from a wide range of children’s literature. This was encouraged in their early years at school where they were given a decodable book and a story book each week. I find the fact that some schools are removing ‘real’ texts from classrooms and restricting early readers to decodable books risks creating a generation of children who fail to associate reading with pleasure. Schools today are obliged to use systematicRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome4658 Words   |  19 PagesNeonatal RDS ii. Characteristics of RDS in Different Gestational Ages 1. Diagnosis 2. Causes 3. Risks 4. Clinical Management 5. Morbidity b. Idiopathic Respiratory Distress Syndrome (IRDS) i. Definition 1. Diagnosis 2. Causes 3. Risks 4. Clinical Management 5. Morbidity c. Meconium Aspiration i. Definition 1. Diagnosis 2. Causes 3. Risks 4. Clinical Management 5. Morbidity d. Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn i. Definition 1. Diagnosis 2. Causes 3. Risks 4. Clinical Management 5. Morbidity VRead MoreEffect Of Ginger On The Brain Of Diabetes Induced Diabetic Rats Essay7558 Words   |  31 Pageswhether the antioxidant properties of ginger has beneficial effects on the structural brain damage associated with diabetes. We investigated the observable neurodegenerative changes in the frontal cortex, dentate gyrus, and cerebellum after 4, 6, and 8 weeks of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes in rats and the effect(s) of ginger (500 mg/kg/day). Sections of frontal cortex, dentate gyrus, and cerebellum were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined using light microscopy. In addition, quantitativeRead MoreOn the Interface between Operations and Human Resources Management16889 Words   |  68 Pagesframework for identifying new research opportunities at the intersection of the two ï ¬ elds. ( Multidisciplinary; Cross-Training; Work Design; Scheduling; Low Inventory; Behavioral Science; Motivation; Turnover; Worker Performance; Worker Attitude ) 1. Introduction The ï ¬ elds of operations management (OM) and human resources management (HRM) have a long history of separateness. In industry, it has been rare for an operations manager to become a human resources manager, or vice versa. In academia

The Postal Service ( Usps ) - 1433 Words

This paper provides documentation published research found online (Internet) and offline (non-Internet), along with face to face interviews (FtF) with employees to the second oldest federal agency the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPS continues to struggle financially and has not shown a profit since the year of 2007. Congress continues to place pressure to privatize the postal service and to run like any other organization. Unlike other for profit organizations and businesses the USPS receives benefits from Congress such as bailouts when they cannot meet payroll, and are exempt for paying federal and state taxes. On the other side of the coin, the Postal Service must go before Congress with any modifications or adjustments to the way the organization is run and managed. Additionally, any requests must be supported with a host of reports and studies from the Government Accountability Organization (GAO) which can take up to six years for documentation. Mission of the Postal Service â€Å"The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The United States Postal Service is an independent establishment of the Executive Branch of the Government of theShow MoreRelatedThe Postal Service ( Usps )1541 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Since 1971, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been a self-supporting government agency that covers its operating costs with revenues generated through the sales of postage and related products and services. The USPS is experiencing significant financial challenges. After running modest profits from FY2003 through FY2006, the USPS lost $41.1 billion between FY2007 and FY2012. Since FY2011, the USPS has defaulted on $11.1 billion in payments to its Retiree Health Benefits Fund (RHBF). TheRead MoreEssay on Usps: the Future of Postal Service619 Words   |  3 PagesUSPS: The Future of Postal Service Since December 2011, discussions have been made about different actions for the U.S. Postal Service to implement in order for the company to stay in business, provide service, and become financially stable again. Options of cutting its’ network of mail-processing centers in half have been in the mix. This will affect a substantial amount of employees who work in these centers. Businesses and citizens who rely on the postal service for communication and shippingRead MoreUsps Deficit : Problems Plaguing America s Postal Service3857 Words   |  16 Pages USPS Deficit: Problems Plaguing America’s Postal Service By Deborah Alicea Lauryn Famiano Enrique Gonzalez Minyi Huang MGT 231 Organizational Behavior Professor Linval Frazer September 4, 2014 Table of Contents Problems of USPS 1 Related Concepts 4 Recommandations 6 1. Innovating Technology System 6 2. Cutting Costs 7 3. Changing Business Model 9 4. Improving communication 10 Conclusion 11 Work Cites 12 Problems of USPS In today’s society the technology of smartphones,Read MoreThe United States Postal Service1644 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States Postal Service is a natural monopoly in the delivery of first class mail, as the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act prevents any other firms from delivering letter mail (Jaag, 2014). The reason for this was to allow one firm to specialize in mail delivery; therefore being the most efficient way to ensure the rest of the country received their mail on time. After all, receiving mail in a timely manner is critical for society to function. Imagine if everyone received their bills and lettersRead MoreMonopoly Of The United States Postal1483 Words   |  6 PagesMONOPOLY OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SEVICE There are few remaining monopolies today. Apple and Wal-Mart are both world-renowned monopolies. Another monopoly is the United States Postal Service. The United States Postal Service is a natural monopoly in the delivery of first class mail, as 1970’s legislation prevents any other firms from delivering letter mail. The reason for this was to allow one firm to specialize in mail delivery; therefore being the most efficient way to ensure the rest of theRead MoreUsps Case #11032 Words   |  5 PagesU.S. Postal Service Case 1 1. Why is it important for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to have a high volume of mail to process? The United States Postal Service (USPS) has grown to become the largest provider of mail service in the world during one of the peaks of its economic lifetime. As the company grew bigger and bigger to accommodate the increased demand for its services, the USPS increased its productive capacity through expansion by acquiring the necessary equipment and other technologicalRead MoreLaws Affecting The Agency Of The United States Postal Service1485 Words   |  6 PagesLaws Affecting The Agency When it comes to The United States Postal Service, I did not think they would have many court cases, especially dealing with diversity and mistreatment in the workplace. During my research, however, I was proven wrong. The Postal Service has had quite a few court cases, while many of them relate to ethical and discriminatory issues. Individuals have felt that the Postal Service sometimes judge applicants or workers by their lifestyle or ethnicity. This in turn shows badRead MoreSaving the USPS Through Privitization Essay example989 Words   |  4 Pagesand because of competitors like FedEx and UPS the United States Postal Service (USPS) is having financial problems. All over the world there has been sweeping postal reform. New Zealand moved to three day mail delivery, Canada eliminated home delivery in cities, and the United Kingdom recently privatized their mail system. The United States Postal office has been losing money and reported a loss of $15.9 billion dollars in 2012. The U SPS has been increasing stamp prices to make up for this financialRead MoreExternal/Internal Factors Affect the 4 Functions of Management1431 Words   |  6 PagesExternal/Internal Factors of an Organization Team B has decided to do our paper on the United States Postal Service. The reason for this is that this service utilizes each of the functions such as globalization, the newest technology, the best innovations, and diversity and ethics combined all in one great service we each use on a daily basis in one way or another. During the reading of this paper, one will find that the following has been researched and discussed: the explanation of the four functionsRead MoreBankrupt Or Billion Dollar Retirement Fund?1160 Words   |  5 Pagesbelieve that the USPS isn t going out of business. I Attention: Attention getter: Everyone wants to save money and everyone hates to see postage going up. You have probably been told that the reason is because the USPS is going bankrupt, but do you really know why? Purpose statement: By the end of today I hope you will consider doing one of the hardest things in your life; pick up a pen and paper and write a letter to each of your congressmen urging them to revise the postal accountability and

Two Weeks in the Life of John F. Kennedy - 685 Words

During the 1960s, the world was changing in significant ways. Big shifts were taking place, impacting the lives of citizens and altering the American way of life. However, it is easy to study that time period and only focus on those large changes, when, in the background, small, everyday things are taking place that play just as big a role. More specifically, when people look into the lives of presidents during the 1960s, they typically start at their big decisions, life–shattering speeches, and, if interesting enough, their deaths. Although this can be an effective way of seeing the big picture, it’s also important to zoom in and study the smaller things that took place. In the pages to follow, material will be given that carefully details two weeks in the life of President John F. Kennedy: November 8-22, 1963. Many big events do surround that time however, and it’s important to understand those before diving into the everyday business of Kennedy, because those circumstances sway his decisions, speeches, and meetings. The first thing that was going on in the world during that time, and one of the most significant, was the African-American civil rights movement. This was a movement, led primarily by African-American leaders, in an effort to establish the civil rights of black citizens. This movement began in the mid-1950s and, in 1963, was at its zenith. But along with the hope it brought for wrongly treated black citizens of America, came violence. One of theShow MoreRelatedThe Cuban Missile Crisis : A Detrimental Event1300 Words   |  6 Pages John F. Kennedy said at the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 that, â€Å"It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.† (Kennedy, 1963). The Cuban missile crisis was a detrimental event in the course of history. On October 22nd, 1962, John F. Kennedy gave his Cuban missile crisis oval office address. Ken nedy gave this speech to inform Americans about the nuclear missile sites that the Soviet Union established in theRead MoreThe Life of John F. Kennedy800 Words   |  4 Pages John F. Kennedy was the 35 president and was shot driving through Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald. John married Jackie Bouvier on September 12, 1953.They got married at Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island. They were married for 10 years. They had four children named Caroline, John , Patrick, and Arabella.Caroline was born on November 27,1957. John was born on November 25,1960, and died July 16, 1999 in a plane crash involving his wife and kids. Patrick was born on , and died 2 days after birthRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy: The King of Camelot1039 Words   |  5 Pagesand strives for change? The man of the hour is John Fitzgerald Kennedy. On May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts one of America’s most beloved presidents is birthed into The Kennedy Family, a socially and politically prominent family residing in Massachusetts. Named after his mother’s father, John Fitzgerald Kennedy would go on to become one of the most influential president’s to grace the oval office. His parents Rose and Joseph Kennedy, were members of Boston’s most prominent IrishRead MoreThe Kennedy Years and Camelot Essay1099 Words   |  5 PagesThere were two essay questions which I found equally interesting. Question one about President Roosevelt’s â€Å"New Deal†. As a business student, the change in the economy after the depression led by President Roosevelt’s â€Å"New Deal† shaped the economic growth in the country. The tenth question regarding President John F. Kennedy’s â€Å"Camelot† was also fascinating. His inaugural address is one of the most memorable, â€Å"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country†.Read MoreJohn F. Kennedy: An Influential Person Essay1335 Words   |  6 PagesJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy led the start of a new era in human history. He was born on May 29, 1917 in the small Boston suburb of Brookline, Massachusetts. He majored in government and international relations at Harvard University. In 1961 Kennedy served as President until his assassination in 1963. John F. Kennedy influenced and touched the lives of people everywhere through his efforts with the Apollo 11 space mission, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the founding of the Peace Corps. Kennedy wasRead MoreThe Dark Side of the Moon Landing1479 Words   |  6 Pagessend a man to the moon. The USSR’s Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, as he orbited around the earth for just over an hour. Three weeks later, The US sent Alan Shepard into space, though he never achieved orbit. The current president at this time was John F. Kennedy, who famously stated that he would send an American to the moon. On May 25 of 1961 Kennedy changed the final goal of the Space Race, â€Å"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is outRead MoreEssay on John F Kennedy JFK1661 Words   |  7 PagesThis is a short biography on John F. Kennedy. In this biography you will learn biographical data about J.F.K., interesting or little known facts, why I chose J.F.K. for my biography and information about what I heroes. Well start off with why I chose J.F.K. for my biography report. I chose John F. Kennedy for my biography report because I find that almost all of his life is very interesting. I first discovered my interest in J.F.K. when I was watching a show about his assassination which took placeRead MoreNineteen Days : A Memoir Of The Cuban Missile Crisis968 Words   |  4 PagesThirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert Kennedy is a book that details those almost fateful 13 days in October of 1962 that could have resulted in the destruction of mankind. Robert Kennedy was the brother of President John F. Kennedy; he served as the United States Attorney General and â€Å"closest cabinet advisor and confidant† during JFK’s presidential administration. The book sets out to provide you detail of just how difficult of a decision the president was tasked with regardRead MoreJohn Grisham s The Pelican Brief884 Words   |  4 Pages In John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, two supreme court justices are assassinated, which the reader can compare to other assassinations in history. With former president John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the reader can connect the political aspects of the book to a real life situation, and with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the reader can see how sometimes your very own opinions can get you killed (Grisham). The reader can also compare John Grisham himself to both Kennedy and King becauseRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy s Assassination1739 Words   |  7 Pages John F Kennedy grew up in a wealthy and very political family. His assassination was a shock to many. It was a time of Cold War and the peak of US involvement in Vietnam. It is important to understand the John F. Kennedy regime including both its national and foreign policy. You also need to look into his personal life. This would help to create motives, and find the primary aspect to consider when looking into any homicide, assassinat ion or murder. He was the first president who was a Boy Scout

The Boundaries Of Compassion By Bernhard Schlink - 2415 Words

‘Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.’ - Primo Levi Compassion- emotion one feels in response to suffering of others that motivates a desire to help, based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink tests the boundaries of compassion by tackling the question of German guilt. The story follows Michal Berg and his life-long struggle between condemning and understanding a Nazi guard he passionately fell in love with as a young boy. Through Michael and Hanna’s lives, Schlink unravels the other side of the Holocaust- experience of the perpetrators and their loved ones. As we devaur shades deeper into their characters, we come to see them both as victims of their circumstance, two people caught on opposite sides of regime clash, where misunderstanding runs as deep as their guilt and shame. Through abundance of symbolism and brisk writing style, Schlink takes us all the way back to beginnings, questioning the meaning of individual agency, impact of law on morality, and transitiona l accountability. Through love and loss, conscious and unconscious pain, compassion and condemnation, The Reader humanizes the perpetrators of the Holocaust and contests us to understand. Understanding the crimes of the past, rather than condemning them, we achieve liberation from chains of the dead and restore

Cryptocurrencies Strategic Management Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Cryptocurrencies Strategic Management. Answer: Introduction: Cryptocurrency The globalisation of the business world has been bringing a tremendous change in the market in terms of technology. Cryptocurrency is one such technological innovation that is paving the way for online transactions. Cryptocurrencies have become a global phenomenon and a lot of people are making heavy investment in mining and purchasing different types of cryptocurrencies (Blockgeeks, n.d.). A cryptocurrency is a digital asset that can be bought, sold and traded through online sources. Cryptocurrencies are now being used for online transactions as many business organisations have started accepting cryptocurrencies as a mode of online payment. In simple words, cryptocurrency is defined as a form of digital money that is anonymous in most of the cases and is designed to be secure (McGoogan Field, 2017). There have been a number of cryptocurrencies that have become famous with the passage of time. Some of them are bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, Zcash, Dash, Monero, etc. (Bajpai, 2017) Bitcoin Bitcoin is one of the most famous cryptocurrencies throughout the world and is paving the way for the future of digital payment system. Bitcoin has also been called the first ever decentralised digital currency as it works without the requirement of a central repository or a single administrator. Bitcoin was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto and was released as an open source software in 2009. Bitcoin acts as a peer-to-peer system as the transactions between two users takes place without an intermediator. All the transactions occurring in terms of bitcoins are verified by network nodes and are recorded in a blockchain, which is a public distributed ledger. The table given below shows the present value of 1 bitcoin in terms of USD and how this value has been fluctuating since 2013. The following graph shows the rise and fall in the values of some famous cryptocurrencies: A table showing the prices of different cryptocurrencies, as of 2017, is given below: Bitcoin (Price in USD) Ripple (Price in USD) Ethereum (Price in USD) June, 2017 2,420.7 0.24390 387.87 July, 2017 2,856.0 0.16300 156.03 August, 2017 4,718.2 0.25880 279.86 September, 2017 4,367.0 0.19903 254.32 October, 2017 5,639.8 0.27563 328.87 Satoshi Nakamotos paper on Bitcoin The paper prepared by Satoshi Nakamoto provides an opportunity to understand the overall working of bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. He talks about the need of a system that would have allowed two parties to directly carry out transactions with each other, without the need of a trusted their party to authenticate the transaction, which helped in the invention of bitcoins. In his paper on bitcoin, he has discussed the working of a bitcoin transaction and how it helped in achieving the desired goals. To achieve his goals, Satoshi designed a system that could make transactions possible without relying on trust, while the only problem in the system was the fear of double spending. To deal with double spending, they designed a network that worked as a peer-to-peer network while all the transactions were recorded in a public history. The transaction quickly becomes computationally impractical for a hacker to solve if all the honest nodes control a majority of CPU power. The system of nodes and bitcoin transactions was designed in such a way that it would become difficult for hackers to steal payments. Further, the design made it possible that the hackers are able to earn a profit only if they play by the rules and not by undermining the systems or stealing from others. Further, the system of bitcoin transactions designed in such a way that the probability of a hacker succeeding in his vicious motives drops down exponentially with the addition of each honest node in the bitcoin networ k. Therefore, bitcoin was designed as a system that would allow to build trust during transactions between two parties without having to depend on a trusted third party for authenticating the transaction. Resources and capabilities required to mine cryptocurrencies Bitcoin mining is a process that is used to extract value from bitcoins. The people who mine bitcoins are the backbone of the entire bitcoin network as they are the ones who secure the network and assist in processing bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin miners achieve this by using a set of complex hardware, which allows them to solve computational problems and chain together blocks of transactions (Tuwiner, 2017). Bitcoin mining is a process where the miners compete with all the other miners involved in the network, while their competitiveness is based on the hardware capabilities of their computer systems. The hardware requirements for a mining bitcoins can largely vary for small home users and large factory users. First of all, large factory users as well as small home users require a hi-tech computer system with some top notch hardware to assemble a mining rig. Three of the most important hardware required to build a mining rig are a graphic card, a power supply and a mother board while the rest of the hardware includes a CPU, RAM, Hard Drive and a computer case (Cryptosource, n.d.). The different between small home usage and large factory requirements are experienced once a mining rig is installed. For a large factory, where there are multiple rigs, it is important to monitor the electricity costs whereas for small home users, electricity cost is not that big a deal. Hence, large factories are more likely to use alternate sources of energy, such as hydropower or geothermal power. Further, large factories also have to bear additional cost in acquiring racks for multiple machines and connectors, which are required to tether all the machines together. Further, factories also have to employ additional staff members to take care of maintain of all their machines because the rigs can get very hot while mining and can malfunction (Redman, 2017). The cost and viability of mining cryptocurrencies A lot of people argue that mining cryptocurrencies is not cost effective as it requires heavy investment and operational cost while the return on investment is not generally that high. On an average, building a mining rig or even purchasing a branded mining rig can involve an investment of US $2000, which is just the beginning. In order to increase the chances of success, cryptocurrency miners have to use highly powerful machines, which can involve even more cost. In technical terms, the mining power of a mining rig is measured in terms of hash rate, which is also defines as the rate at which a PC can solve a problem. More are the miners in the cryptocurrency network, higher is the complexity and higher is the hash rate required. Thus, miners have to continuously upgrade their hardware to increase the hash rate of their machines. In a recent research conducted by Tomaso Aste, a professor of complexity sciences, it was discovered that the cost of completing a block in the blockchain is around $10,000, which is far less than the amount earned for discovering a block (Higgins, 2016). Cryptocurrency mining was immensely profitable in its early days but the growth of miners in the bitcoin network have scaled up the complexity and at present, only those miners that have large setups and super powerful PCs, can actually extract cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, for the miners with limited power resources and small setups, the expenses on electricity are much more than what they can earn from cryptocurrency mining (Tuwiner, 2017). Furthermore, with the completion of every block and with every new miner in the network, the cost of cryptocurrency mining will increase because of the increase in complexity. Therefore, the viability of mining bitcoins is largely dependent on the cost of electricity consumed in the mining process. The threat of cryptocurrencies to hard currency banks A number of people who have invested heavily in cryptocurrencies are of the view that cryptocurrencies are the future of currency and will outdate hard currencies sooner or later. People are eagerly waiting for cryptocurrencies to be accepted by governments throughout the world but it will not come easy. For the entire globe to accept cryptocurrencies as a legal currency or a centralised system, a cryptocurrency would need to be a potential reserve currency. For any cryptocurrency to pose a real threat to the hard currency banks or the US Dollar, it would first have to be held by the central banks of all countries so that it can be used by them to pay off their international debts. Furthermore, it will also be important that certain assets and commodities, like crude oil, are priced in a particular cryptocurrency (Mannarino, 2017) For a cryptocurrency to become a reserve currency, it would require a large scale revolution that will have an impact on the entire globe, which seems to be impossible as of now. Further, the use of cryptocurrencies by cyber criminals and hackers is also alarming the policy makers and cyber security experts. Cryptocurrencies are being used to accept ransoms and to carry out illegal online activities because payments made through cryptocurrencies do not leave a trail behind them and are more like black money. Therefore, a lot of countries are not in the favour of using cryptocurrencies and are opposing its use as a reserved currency. Thus, the threat of cryptocurrencies to hard bank currencies is not that severe for the time being. The criminal usage of cryptocurrencies The rate at which cryptocurrencies are grabbing attention in the global market is creating an alarming situation for cybersecurity organisations. Virtual money can be stolen by hackers and thieves, which they can use to fund criminal businesses or other illegal activities. A number of reports also suggest that even though stealing cryptocurrencies can be easy for the criminals, but spending them is hard. One of the biggest advantage of using cryptocurrencies is that they allow users to carry out anonymous transactions and as there are millions of transactions taking place every day, it becomes difficult to identify the users most of the time. There is an opportunity for hackers and criminals to steal cryptocurrency and even demand a ransom in term of cryptocurrencies. For example, a group of hackers was able to hack into the HBO network and systems and started leaking their classified information online. In order to stop the menace, they asked for a ransom in the form of bitcoins (FP Staff, 2017). In the recent times, some hackers have also been able to alter the destination addresses of several transactions, which resulted into the cryptocurrencies being mysteriously disappearing and getting deposited into mystery wallets being controlled by them (Reiff, 2017). Even though it is difficult for certain organisations to steal cryptocurrencies as it required a lot of technical capabilities, the threat of criminal activities resulting due to cryptocurrency theft is real and increasing. Interest of the Chinese government in cryptocurrencies China is one country where the trading and usage of cryptocurrencies was booming like anything. Some people are also of the view that China and Japan are largely the reasons behind the worldwide success of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies gained popularity in China because of the stringent control of the yuan that the Chinese government exercised. The government frequently devaluates its currency for trading purposes. As the private wealth in China grew, individuals found it a better proposition to invest their money in cryptocurrencies as they are more stable and would not receive fluctuations as does their paper currency. Further, China offers cheap electricity and hardware, which is actually an obvious competitive edge in the cryptocurrency mining process (Ward, 2017). In China, majority of the citizens do not have access to banking services, which motivates the use of cryptocurrencies even more. The government of China finds cryptocurrency as an efficiency proposition because the transactions can be traced and can be used to fight corruption in the country (Reiff, 2017). The interest of the Chinese government and people is creating an alarming situation throughout the world. If sources are to be b elieved, then the Wall Street is taking steps to implement usage of cryptocurrency systems by next year. On the other hand, a town is Switzerland has already begun to accept payments in terms of bitcoins. References Blockgeeks, n.d. What is Cryptocurrency: Everything You Need To Know [Ultimate Guide]. [Online] Available at: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/ [Accessed 4 October 2017]. McGoogan, C. Field, M., 2017. What is cryptocurrency, how does it work and why do we use it?. [Online] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/cryptocurrency/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Bajpai, P., 2017. The 6 Most Important Cryptocurrencies Other Than Bitcoin. [Online] Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/tech/6-most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-bitcoin/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Tuwiner, J., 2017. What is Bitcoin Mining?. [Online] Available at: https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Cryptosource, n.d. Part 1: Hardware Requirements. [Online] Available at: https://cryptosource.org/mining/hardware-requirements/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Redman, J., 2017. Things to consider when starting a bitcoin mining operation. [Online] Available at: https://news.bitcoin.com/things-consider-starting-bitcoin-mining-operation/ [Accessed 4 October 2017]. Higgins, S., 2016. At $400 Million a Year, Academic Argues Bitcoin Mining Worth the Cost. [Online] Available at: https://www.coindesk.com/400-million-year-researcher-argues-bitcoin-mining-worth-cost/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Tuwiner, J., 2017. Is Bitcoin Mining Profitable or Worth it in 2017?. [Online] Available at: https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/profitability/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Mannarino, G., 2017. Are Cryptocurrencies Really a Threat To The US Dollar?. [Online] Available at: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@marketreport/are-cryptocurrencies-really-a-threat-to-the-us-dollar-by-gregory-mannarino[Accessed 4 October 2017].FP Staff, 2017. HBO hack: Studio won't bow down to ransom demand or engage with hackers. [Online] Available at: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/hbo-hack-studio-wont-bow-down-to-ransom-demand-or-engage-with-hackers-3933591.html[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Reiff, N., 2017. Criminals Are Too Stupid to Use Cryptocurrency: EU Report. [Online] Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/news/criminals-are-too-stupid-use-cryptocurrency-eu-report/[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Ward, T., 2017. China and Japan are largely responsible for cryptocurrency's success. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/cryptocurrency-china-japan-bitcoin-ethereum-2017-7?IR=T[Accessed 4 October 2017]. Reiff, N., 2017. Chinese Government is Developing its Own Cryptocurrency. [Online] Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/news/chinese-government-developing-its-own-cryptocurrency/[Accessed 4 October 2017].

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Song Offerings Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee For more FREE books visit our website: www. spiritualbee. com Dear Reader, This e-book is a reproduction of the original â€Å"Gitanjali – Song Offerings† by Rabindranath Tagore, first published in 1913. This book is now in the public domain in the United States and in India; because it’s original copyright owned by the Macmillan Company has expired. As per U. S. copyright law, any book published in the United States prior to January 1st 1923 is in the public domain in the United States. Under Indian copyright laws, works enter the public domain 60 years after the author’s death. A photographed version of the original book is also available for download at our website www. spiritualbee. com/gitanjali-poems-of-tagore/ Book Summary: â€Å"Gitanjali† is one of Rabindranath Tagore’s best known works for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Many of the verses in Gitanjali are beautiful prayers written after a gut-wrenchingly painful period in Rabindranath Tagore’s life, during which he lost his father, wife, daughter and a son in quick succession. His unfathomable pain and unshaken devotion to God are captured in the moving proseverses of Gitanjali, which Tagore dedicated as â€Å"Song Offerings†. For a reader uninitiated in Tagore, it is our humble recommendation that they read the prose-verses of Gitanjali only after gaining familiarity with some of his other works. His books My Reminiscences, Glimpses of Bengal, Sadhana and Nationalism are a great place to start and are available for a free download at our website www. spiritualbee. com/free-spiritual-books/ In that way the reader will have gained a fuller perspective and a rich contextual background, to weight Tagore’s words against. When one reads the works of Tagore, one detects a clear stream of spirituality and an intense love for Nature that flows through most of his books. It is no exaggeration that the more works of Tagore one reads, the more one falls in love with this simple and beautiful poet. He shone forth brightly his lamp of timeless wisdom of the East ? that this Universe has been created out of pure love, and it is only our love for each other together with peace, justice and freedom that will sustain it. â€Å"The Upanishads say: â€Å"From joy does spring all this creation, by joy is it maintained, towards joy does it progress, and into joy does it enter. It means that Gods creation has not its source in any necessity; it comes from his fullness of joy; it is his love that creates, therefore in creation is his own revealment. † Rabindranath Tagore explaining a verse of the Upanishads, in his book â€Å"Sadhana – The Realisation of Life† It is no wonder that in India, Rabin dranath Tagore is revered as â€Å"Gurudev† ? â€Å"a teacher embodying God-like knowledge†, a title conferred upon him by Mahatma Gandhi. We hope that you enjoy reading this masterpiece as much as we did! Since knowledge grows by sharing, do forward this e-book to your friends and family. Kind regards, The Spiritual Bee Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 2 Acknowledgements We would like to express our sincere thanks to The Free-Dictionary (www. thefreedictionary. com) for providing meanings to English words and terms in use during the early 1900s. Terms of Use We have tried our utmost to maintain the integrity of the original work. However during the transcribing process it is possible that some errors may have crept in. By reading, downloading, altering or distributing this book you agree to indemnify us of all errors, liabilities, cost and legal expenses. Painted by Nandalal Bose Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 4 GITANJALI (SONG OFFERINGS) BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE A COLLECTION OF PROSE TRANSLATIONS MADE BY THE AUTHOR FROM THE ORIGINAL BENGALI WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY W. B. YEATS NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1920 EDITION (FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1913) Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 5 TO WILLIAM ROTHENSTEIN Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 6 PREFACE THESE translations are of poems contained in three books ? Naivedya, Kheya, and Gitanjali ? to be had at the Indian Publishing House, 22 Cornwallis Street, Calcutta; and of a few poems which have appeared only in periodicals. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 7 INTRODUCTION By W. B. YEATS A FEW days ago I said to a distinguished Bengali doctor of medicine, I know no German, yet if a translation of a German poet had moved me, I would go to the British Museum and find books in English that would tell me something of his life, and of the history of his thought. But though these prose translations from Rabindranath Tagore have stirred my blood as nothing has for years, I shall not know anything of his life, and of the movements of thought that have made them possible, if some Indian traveller will not tell me. † It seemed to him natural that I should be moved, for he said, I read Rabindranath every day, to read one line of his is to forget all the troubles of the world. I said, An Englishman living in London in the reign of Richard the Second had he been shown translations from Petrarch or from Dante, would have found no books to answer his questions, but would have questioned some Florentine banker or Lombard merchant as I question you. For all I know, so abundant and simple is this poetry, the new Renaissance has been born in your country and I shall never know of it except by hearsay. He answered, We have other poets, but none that are his equal; we call this the epoch of Rabindranath. No poet seems to me as famous in Europe as he is among us. He is as great in music as in poetry, and his songs are sung from the west of India into Burmah wherever Bengali is spoken. He was already famous at nineteen when he wrote his first novel; and plays, written when he was but little older, are still played in Calcutta. I so much admire the completeness of his life; when he was very young he wrote much of natural objects, he would sit all day in his garden; from his twenty-fifth year or so to his thirty-fifth perhaps, when he had a great sorrow, he wrote the most beautiful love poetry in our language; and then he said with deep emotion, words can never express what I wed at seventeen to his love poetry. After that his art grew deeper, it became religious and philosophical; all the aspirations of mankind are in his hymns. He is the first among our saints who has not refused to live, but has spoken out of Life itself, and that is why we give him our love. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Sp iritual Bee 8 I may have changed his well-chosen words in my memory but not his thought. A little while ago he was to read divine service in one of our churches ? we of the Brahma Samaj use your word ‘church’ in English ? t was the largest in Calcutta and not only was it crowded, people even standing in the windows, but the streets were all but impassable because of the people. Other Indians came to see me and their reverence for this man sounded strange in our world, where we hide great and little things under the same veil of obvious comedy and half-serious depreciation. When we were making the cathedrals had we a like reverence for our great men? Every morning at three ? I know, for I have seen it ? one said to me, he sits immovable in contemplation, and for two hours does not awake from his reverie upon the nature of God. His father, the Maha Rishi, would sometimes sit there all through the next day; once, upon a river, he fell into contemplation because of the beauty of the landscape, and the rowers waited for eight hours before they could continue their journey. He then told me of Mr. Tagores family and how for generations great men have come out of its cradles. To-day, he said, there are Gogonendranath and Abanindranath Tagore, who are artists; and Dwijendranath, Rabindranaths brother, who is a great philosopher. The squirrels come from the boughs and climb on to his knees and the birds alight upon his hands. I notice in these mens thought a sense of visible beauty and meaning as though they held that doctrine of Nietzsche that we must not believe in the moral or intellectual beauty which does not sooner or later impress itself upon physical things. I said, In the East you know how to keep a family illustrious. The other day the curator of a Museum pointed out to me a little dark-skinned man who w as arranging their Chinese prints and said, That is the hereditary connoisseur of the Mikado, he is the fourteenth of his family to hold the post. ’ He answered. When Rabindranath was a boy he had all round him in his home literature and music. I thought of the abundance, of the simplicity of the poems, and said, In your country is there much propagandist writing, much criticism? We have to do so much, especially in my own country, that our minds gradually cease to be creative, and yet we cannot help it. If our life was not a continual warfare, we would not have Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 9 taste, we would not know what is good, we would not find hearers and readers. Fourfifths of our energy is spent in the quarrel with bad taste, whether in our own minds or in the minds of others. I understand, he replied, we too have our propagandist writing. In the villages they recite long mythological poems adapted from the Sanscrit in the Middle Ages, and they often insert passages telling the people that they must do their duties. â€Å" II I have carried the manuscript of these translations about with me for days, reading it in railway trains, or on the tops of omnibuses and in restaurants, and I have often had to close it lest some stranger would see how much it moved me. These lyrics ? which are in the original, my Indians tell me, full of subtlety of rhythm, of untranslatable delicacies of colour, of metrical invention ? display in their thought a world I have dreamed of all my life long. The work of a supreme culture, they yet appear as much the growth of the common soil as the grass and the rushes. A tradition, where poetry and religion are the same thing, has passed through the centuries, gathering from learned and unlearned metaphor and emotion, and carried back again to the multitude the thought of the scholar and of the noble. If the civilization of Bengal remains unbroken, if that common mind which ? as one divines ? runs through all, is not, as with us, broken into a dozen minds that know nothing of each other, something even of what is most subtle in these verses will have come, in a few generations, to the beggar on the roads. When there was but one mind in England Chaucer wrote his Troilus and Cressida, and though he had written to be read, or to be read out ? for our time was coming on apace ? he was sung by minstrels for a while. Rabindranath Tagore, like Chaucers forerunners, writes music for his words, and one understands at every moment that he is so abundant, so spontaneous, so daring in his passion, so full of surprise, because he is doing something which has never seemed strange, unnatural, or in need of defence. These verses will not lie in little well-printed books upon ladies tables, who turn the pages with indolent hands that they may sigh over a life without meaning, which is yet all they can know of life, or be carried about by students at the university to be laid aside when the work of life begins, but as the Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 10 generations pass, travellers will hum them on the highway and men rowing upon rivers. Lovers, while they await one another, shall find, in murmuring them, this love of God a magic gulf wherein their own more bitter passion may bathe and renew its youth. At every moment the heart of this poet flows outward to these without derogation or condescension, for it has known that they will understand; and it has filled itself with the circumstance of their lives. The traveller in the red-brown clothes that he wears that dust may not show upon him, the girl searching in her bed for the petals fallen from the wreath of her royal lover, the servant or the bride awaiting the masters home-coming in the empty house, are images of the heart turning to God. Flowers and rivers, the blowing of conch shells, the heavy rain of the Indian July, or the parching heat, are images of the moods of that heart in union or in separation; and a man sitting in a boat upon a river playing upon a lute, like one of those figures full of mysterious meaning in a Chinese picture, is God Himself. A whole people, a whole civilization, immeasurably strange to us, seems to have been taken up into this imagination; and yet we are not moved because of its strangeness, but because we have met our own image, as though we had walked in Rossettis willow wood, or heard, perhaps for the first time in literature, our voice as in a dream. Since the Renaissance the writing of European saints ? however familiar their metaphor and the general structure of their thought ? has ceased to hold our attention. We know that we must at last forsake the world, and we are accustomed in moments of weariness or exaltation to consider a voluntary forsaking; but how can we, who have read so much poetry, seen so many paintings, listened to so much music, where the cry of the flesh and the cry of the soul seem one, forsake it harshly and rudely? What have we in common with St. Bernard covering his eyes that they may not dwell upon the beauty of the lakes of Switzerland, or with the violent rhetoric of the Book of Revelation? We would, if we might, find, as in this book, words full of courtesy. I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure. Here I give back the keys of my door ? and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you. We were neighbours for long, but I received more than I could give. Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 11 And it is our own mood, when it is furthest from A Kempis or John of the Cross, that cries, And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well. Yet it is not only in our thoughts of the parting that this book fathoms all. We had not known that we loved God, hardly it may be that we believed in Him; yet looking backward upon our life we discover, in our exploration of the pathways of woods, in our delight in the lonely places of hills, in that mysterious claim that we have made, unavailingly, on the women that we have loved, the emotion that created this insidious sweetness. Entering my heart nbidden even as one of the common crowd, unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon many a fleeting moment, This is no longer the sanctity of the cell and of the scourge; being but a lifting up, as it were, into a greater intensity of the mood of the painter, painting the dust and the sunlight, and we go for a like voice to St. Francis and to William Blake who have seemed so alien in our violent history. III We write long books where no page perhaps has any quality to make writing a pleasure, being confident in some general design, just as we fight and make money and fill our heads with politics ? ll dull things in the doing while Mr. Tagore, like the Indian civilization itself, has been content to discover the soul and surrender himself to its spontaneity. He often seems to contrast his life with that of those who have lived more after our fashion, and have more seeming weight in the world, and always humbly as though he were only sure his way is best for him: Men going home glance at me and smile and fill me with shame. I sit like a beggar maid, drawing my skirt over my face, and when they ask me, what it is I want, I drop my eyes and answer them not. At another time, remembering how his life had once a different shape, he will say, Many an hour have I spent in the strife of the good and the evil, but now it is the pleasure of my pl aymate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him; and I know not why is this sudden call to what useless inconsequence. An innocence, a simplicity that one does not find elsewhere in literature makes the birds and the leaves seem as near to him as they are near to children, and the changes of the seasons great events as before our thoughts had arisen between them and us. At times I wonder if he has it from the literature of Bengal or from religion, and at other times, remembering the birds alighting Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 12 on his brothers hands, I find pleasure in thinking it hereditary, a mystery that was growing through the centuries like the courtesy of a Tristan or a Pelanore. Indeed, when he is speaking of children, so much a part of himself this quality seems, one is not certain that he is not also speaking of the saints, They build their houses with sand and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the sea-shore of worlds. They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets. W. B. YEATS. September 1912. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 13 GITANJALI Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 14 1 THOU hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life. This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new. At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable1. Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill. 2 WHEN thou commandest me to sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes. All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony ? and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea. I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence. I touch by the edge of the far spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach. Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord. 3 I KNOW not how thou singest, my master! I ever listen in silent amazement. The light of thy music illumines the world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky to sky. The holy stream of thy music breaks through all stony obstacles and rushes on. 1. Ineffable: too great or intense to be expressed in presentation by The Spiritual Bee Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book words; unutterable. 15 My heart longs to join in thy song, but vainly struggles for a voice. I would speak, but speech breaks not into song, and I cry out baffled. Ah, thou hast made my heart captive in the endless meshes of thy music, my master! 4 LIFE of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon all my limbs. I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind. I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart. And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act. 5 I ASK for a moments indulgence to sit by thy side. The works that I have in hand I will finish afterwards. Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite, and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil. To-day the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove. Now it is time to sit quiet, face to face with thee, and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 16 6 PLUCK this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust. It may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am aware, and the time of offering go by. Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time. 7 MY song has put off her adornments. She has no pride of dress and decoration. Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers. My poets vanity dies in shame before thy sight. O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet. Only let me make my life simple and straight, like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music. 8 THE child who is decked with princes robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every tep. In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust he keeps himself from the world, and is afraid even to move. Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tag ore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 17 Drawn by Nandalal Bose MY SONG HAS PUT OFF HER ADORNMENTS 9 O FOOL, to try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders! O beggar, to come to beg at thy own door! Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all, and never look behind in regret. Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath. It is unholy ? take not thy gifts through its unclean hands. Accept only what is offered by sacred love. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 18 10 HERE is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost. When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost. Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost. My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost. Painted by Surendranath Kar HERE IS THY FOOTSTOOL Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 19 11 LEAVE this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil! Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever. Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow. 12 THE time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long. I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet. It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune. The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end. My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said Here art thou! The question and the cry Oh, where? melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance I am! Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 20 13 THE song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day. I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument. The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set; only there is the agony of wishing in my heart. The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by. I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice; only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house. The livelong1 day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor; but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house. I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet. Drawn by Nandalal Bose THE SONG I CAME TO SING Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 1. Livelong: Complete, whole; of time long or seemingly long, especially in a tedious way. 21 14 MY desires are many and my cry is pitiful, but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals; and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through. Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple, great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked ? this sky and the light, this body and the life and the mind ? saving me from perils of overmuch desire. There are times when I languidly linger and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal; but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me. Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by refusing me ever and anon1, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire. 15 I AM here to sing thee songs. In this hall of thine I have a corner seat. In thy world I have no work to do; my useless life can only break out in tunes without a purpose. When the hour strikes for thy silent worship at dark temple of midnight, command me, my master, to stand before thee to sing. When in the morning air the golden harp is tuned, honour me, commanding my presence. 16 I HAVE had my invitation to this worlds festival, and thus my life has been blessed. My eyes have seen and my ears have heard. It was my part at this feast to play upon my instrument, and I have done all I could. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 1. Ever and anon: An old English phrase meaning now and then; frequently; often. 22 Now, I ask, has the time come at last when I may go in and see thy face and offer thee my silent salutation? 17 I AM only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands. That is why it is so late and why I have been guilty of such omissions. They come with their laws and their codes to bind me fast; but I evade them ever, for I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands. People blame me and call me heedless; I doubt not they are right in their blame. The market day is over and work is all done for the busy. Those who came to call me in vain have gone back in anger. I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands. 18 CLOUDS heap upon clouds and it darkens. Ah, love, why dost thou let me wait outside at the door all alone? In the busy moments of the noontide work I am with the crowd, but on this dark lonely day it is only for thee that I hope. If thou showest me not thy face, if thou leavest me wholly aside, I know not how I am to pass these long, rainy hours. I keep gazing on the far away gloom of the sky, and my heart wanders wailing with the restless wind. 19 IF thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it. I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience. Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 23 The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky. Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds nests, and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves. 20 ON the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded. Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind. That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to me that it was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion. I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart. 21 I MUST launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore ? Alas for me! The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger. The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall. What emptiness do you gaze upon! Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far away song floating from the other shore? Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore An e-book presentation by The Spiritual Bee 24 22 IN the deep shadows of the rainy July, with secret steps, thou walkest, silent as night, eluding all watchers. To-day the morning has closed its eyes, heedless of the insistent calls of the loud east wind, and a thick veil has been drawn over the ever-wakeful blue sky. The woodlands have hushed their songs, and doors are all shut at every house.