Wind of Change Forever Blown, The
Hymn composed by
Johann Hermann ScheinContextual information
This hymn consists of adaptations of four of the five stanzas of the poem “To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus,” which was first published in Naidu’s 1905 collection The Golden Threshold. The first stanza of the poem, omitted from the hymn, makes it clear that–as the title suggests–the words are addressed to a Buddha on a lotus throne.
This hymn consists of adaptations of four of the five stanzas of the poem “To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus,” which was first published in Naidu’s 1905 collection The Golden Threshold. The first stanza of the poem, omitted from the hymn, makes it clear that–as the title suggests–the words are addressed to a Buddha on a lotus throne.
Tune Name
MACH'S MIT MIR
Tune Name
Text Meter
8.8.8.8.8.8.
10.9.10.9
Song Composer
Johann Hermann ScheinHymn Arranger
Composer Background information
Lyricist Background information
Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) was a poet and Indian political activist. She was born in Hyderanad and educated in Madras, London, and Cambridge. When she returned to India after her time in England, she became a leader in the Indian independence movement. After India’s independence, she served as the first Governor of the United Provinces. Mahatma Gandhi gave her the nickname “the nightingale of India” in honor of her poetry.
Arranger Background information
Lyrics
The wind of change forever blown across the tumult of our way,
tomorrow’s unborn griefs depose the sorrows of our yesterday.
Dream yields to dream, strife follows strife, and death unweaves the webs of life.
For us the labor and the heat, the broken secrets of our pride,
the strenuous lessons of defeat, the flower deferred, the fruit denied;
but not the peace, supremely won, great Buddha, of the lotus throne.
With futile hands we seek to gain our inaccessible desire,
diviner summits to attain, with faith that sinks and feet that tire;
but nought shall conquer or control the heav’nward hunger of our soul.
The end, elusive and afar, still lures us with its beck’ning flight,
and our immortal moments are a session of the infinite.
How shall we reach the great, unknown nirvana of your lotus throne?
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