Gitanjali, song 1: 'This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales'. Song 7: 'like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music'. What has the reed flute come to stand for?

Gitanjali opens: 'This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.' Song 73 speaks of 'filling this earthen vessel to the brim.' What does the vessel stand for?

Song 13: 'The livelong 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.' What does the unlit lamp show about the speaker?

Song 27: 'There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame'. Song 93: 'the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.' By this last song, what does the lamp stand for?

Which recurring element in Gitanjali is a motif that gathers meaning, rather than a repetition that carries none?

Which of these images returns across many songs of Gitanjali and gathers meaning, rather than appearing in a single song only?

In song 50 the beggar gives the king one grain of corn. At day's end: 'I emptied my bag on the floor to find a least little gram of gold among the poor heap'. What does the grain of gold mean?

Song 51, when the king arrives at night: 'where are lights, where are wreaths? Where is the throne to seat him?' The answer given is 'Greet him with empty hands, lead him into thy rooms all bare!' What does this mean?

Song 51: 'Greet him with empty hands, lead him into thy rooms all bare!' Song 94: 'I start on my journey with empty hands and expectant heart.' By this last song, what have empty hands come to stand for?

Song 21: 'I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore'. Song 42 calls the voyage 'our pilgrimage to no country and to no end'. What does launching the boat stand for?

Song 75: 'The river has its everyday work to do and hastens through fields and hamlets; yet its incessant stream winds towards the washing of thy feet.' What does this line mean?

Song 6: 'I may not find a place in thy garland ... use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time.' Song 91: 'the garland is ready for the bridegroom.' What has the garland come to mean?

Song 41: '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.' What does this show about the speaker?

In song 45 the words 'he comes, comes, ever comes' are repeated several times within that one song. A phrase repeated for emphasis inside a single song is not by itself a motif.

Song 64: A maiden says she has come 'to float my lamp on the stream.' The speaker, whose house is dark, watches 'the timid flame of her lamp uselessly drifting in the tide.' Why does he call her lamp useless?

Song 12: '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.' What does this line mean?

Song 13: 'I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.' Song 45: 'Have you not heard his silent steps? He comes, comes, ever comes.' What have the footsteps come to mean?

Song 1: '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.' What does this mean about the speaker?

Song 98: 'my empty heart will sob out in music like a hollow reed, and the stone will melt in tears.' What does the hollow reed mean here?

In Gitanjali the vessel is first the frail one God empties and fills with life, then an earthen vessel filled 'to the brim', and at last 'the full vessel of my life' set before death. What does this pattern show?