Prisoner.....! by Rabindranath Tagore

I came out alone on my way to my tryst. But who
is this that follows me in the silent dark?

I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape
him not.

He makes the dust rise from the earth with his
swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word that I
utter.

He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no
shame; but I am ashamed to come to thy door in
his company.

"Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?"

"It was my master," said the prisoner. "I thought I
could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and
power, and I amassed in my own treasure-hose the
money due to my king. When sleep overcame me I
lay upon the bad that was for my lord, and on
waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own
treasure-house."

"Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this
unbreakable chain?"

"It was I," said the prisoner, "who forged this
chain very carefully. I thought my invincible power
would hold the world captive leaving me in a
freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked
at the chain with huge fires and cruel hard strokes.
When at last the work was done and the links were
complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me
in its grip."

~ Rabindranath Tagore