ANANDA COOMARASWAMY
The tangled threads of
life,
Unravelling which we
vainly try,
To thee their windings
have been most clear;
The myriad voices and
the myriad tongues
Manifest to thee their
real unity;
Art of the East and
methods of the West,
Knowledge of Life,
intuition, sympathy
Have all combined to
give thy thought
A singular clarity–clarity
refining,
Transforming, welding,
into one purposeful whole
What seems so complex,
diverse, manifold.
Far from thy home the
motherland calls to thee,
Its cherished son.
Return, O return to her
Warm embrace to pass the
evening of thy Life
Away from the strife,
the noise of restless West;
Return to rest and
inspire thy brethren,
O Lanka’s jewel, Bharat’s
own.
–S. DURAI RAJA SINGAM
A poem sent to Ananda Coomaraswamy
on seventieth birthday (22 August 1947)