The voice awaited
Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth. I am Thy servant; O give me understanding that I may know Thy testimonies. Incline my heart unto the words of Thy mouth. Let thy speech distil as the dew. The children of Israel spake in old time to Moses, Speak thou unto us and we will hear, but let not the Lord speak unto us lest we die. Not thus, O Lord, not thus do I pray, but rather with Samuel the prophet, I beseech Thee humbly and earnestly, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. Let not Moses speak to me, nor any prophet, but rather speak Thou, O Lord, who didst inspire and illuminate all the prophets; for Thou alone without them canst perfectly fill me with knowledge, whilst they without Thee shall profit nothing.
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.
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.
The Editors’ note
Both are the prayer of one who waits on God’s word. The Imitation prays with Samuel, “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth”, and asks that not Moses nor any prophet speak, but God himself, who alone can fill the soul with knowledge. Tagore resolves that if God speaks not, “I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it”, keeping still like the night with its head bent low.
Thomas asks for a word heard within the soul, from the one who inspired the prophets, rather than from the prophets themselves. Tagore trusts that the voice will come as morning comes, in golden streams breaking through the sky, and that God’s words will break out in the world itself, in songs from the birds’ nests and in flowers.