I spent some 11 years travelling to and from Bangladesh, came to love the country, and have many Bangladeshi friends. One friend gave me a 1971 copy of “Gitanjali,” a collection of Indian songs by Rabindranath Tagore with an introduction by W B Yeats. I have the thin book in front of me now. Tagore and Yeats are both people I admire: their poetry is of the best.

In his introduction Yeats picks out this poem by Tagore and puts it alongside the words of St John of the Cross: “And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.”
For me the poem illustrates the simplicity and the ordinariness of death. Although I love Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do not go gentle into that good night,” I do not agree that we should “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Rather we should appreciate the value of death, be thankful for our lives and the love we have received, give way to others, and recognise when “a summons has come” and be ready for our journey.

Farewell by Rabindranath Tagore

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.