"The Earthen Goblet"
The Earthen Goblet O, silent goblet red from head to heel, How did you feel When you were being twirled Upon the Potter’s wheel Before the Potter gave you to the world? ‘I felt a conscious impulse in my clay To break away From the great Potter’s hand that burned so warm. I felt vast Feeling of sorrow to be cast Into my present form. ‘Before that fatal hour That saw me captive on the Potter’s wheel And cast into this crimson goblet-sleep, I used to feel The fragrant friendship of a little flower Whose root was in my bosom buried deep. ‘The Potter has drawn out the living breath of me And given me a form which is the death of me. My past unshapely natural state was best With just one flower flaming through my breast. Harindranath Chattopadhyaya The Earthen Goblet by Indian poet Harindranath Chattopadhyay
