What is your analysis of Rabindranath Tagore's poem "The Wayfarer"?
The poem "The Wayfarer" by Rabindranath Tagore was first published in his book Gitanjali, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. The book (and thus the poem) was first published in Tagore's native language, Bengali, in 1910. The poet, who was bilingual, then published in 1912 Gitanjali or Song Offerings in English, a volume containing a selection of poems from the Bengali Gitanjali as well as some other works, translated and often substantially revised by the poet himself. Ezra Pound wrote an influential and extremely enthusiastic appreciation of the volume on its appearance in English.
The poem is narrated in the first person. It takes place on a stormy night in a small town or village. The narrator is thinking of the "wayfarer" of the title walking on deserted streets. The narrator addresses the wayfarer as "Oh my only friend, my best beloved," but...
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we do not learn any actual details about the Wayfarer; gender, age, clothing, and appearance are not described. We do know that the speaker yearns to have the Wayfarer visit his home and assumes that the purpose of the Wayfarer's silent and elusive journey is to visit him.
Although we can read this as a love poem, much of Tagore's work focuses on the spiritual as well. What we do sense is a sort of spiritual longing or incompleteness on the part of both characters that can only be assuaged by union of narrator and Wayfarer, but also some obstacle that prevents the Wayfarer from simply dropping by in a normal fashion. The obstacle may be religious, a matter of fate, or destiny, or perhaps the Wayfarer is imaginary.
References
If you mean "The Wayfarer" by Stephen Crane, the poem is about the quest for truth. (If you mean Rabindranath Tagore's poem "The Wayfarer," see thanatassa's answer.)
The wayfarer,
Perceiving the pathway to truth,
Was struck with astonishment.
It was thickly grown with weeds.
"Ha," he said,
"I see that none has passed here
In a long time."
Later he saw that each weed
Was a singular knife.
"Well," he mumbled at last,
"Doubtless there are other roads."
The pathway is a metaphor for this search. The speaker sees that the path is thick with weeds, symbolizing that truth is often difficult to discern because it is clouded with "weeds." Also, each weed is a "singular knife" meaning each weed is some obstacle to the truth - perhaps deceit, perhaps self-serving motivies, perhaps white-lies, perhaps lies by government, corrupt leaders, etc. (I'm extrapolating here).
The speaker also acknowledges that not too many are interested in seeking the truth, because there is evidence that the path has not been traveled much.
The poem ends on a pessimistic note because the speaker, too, decides that the path to truth is too treacherous with all those weeds, and he, too, decides to look for other roads.
See the links for further help.
What is the message of Rabindranath Tagore's poem "Wayfarer"?
This Indian poet writes a lot about the search for God. So perhaps this poem describes this search - he looks again and again in the darkness, and he cannot sleep because of it.
I have no sleep tonight. Ever and again I open my door and look
out on the darkness, my friend!
Perhaps God is his only friend, and he hopes that God will come into his house from wandering around and about in the world
Oh my only friend, my best beloved, the gates are open
in my house–do not pass by like a dream.
The poem could also be an allegory about death. Perhaps the poet is depressed - the tone is very gloomy - and death is his only friend:
I can see nothing before me. I wonder where lies thy path!
By what dim shore of the ink-black river, by what far edge of the
frowning forest, through what mazy depth of gloom art thou
threading thy course to come to me, my friend?
Perhaps he seeks relief from his pain and gloom through death.
Thou art the solitary wayfarer in this deserted
street.
I have no sleep tonight. Ever and again I open my door and look
out on the darkness, my friend!
There is personification in the poem if you interpret the wayfarer to be something other than a human. Nature is also personified (Today the morning has closed its eyes) and there is dark imagery.
Now, you take a stab at it. The beauty of poetry is that "a poem does not mean but be."