When Tomorrow Starts Without Me By David M. Romano When tomorrow starts without me, And I’m not there to see, If the sun should rise and find your eyes All filled with tears for me; I wish so much you wouldn’t cry The way you did today, While thinking of the many things, We didn’t get to say. I know how much you love me, I know you’ll miss me too; But when tomorrow starts without me, Please try to understand, That an angel came and called my name, And took me by the hand. And said my place was ready, In heaven far above And that I’d have to leave behind All those I dearly love. But as I turned to walk away, A tear fell from my eye For all my life, I’d always thought, I didn’t want to die. I had so much to live for, So much left yet to do, It seemed almost impossible That I was leaving you.

About this quote

हिन्दी में

जब कल की सुबह मेरे बिना शुरू होगी, और मैं उसे देखने के लिए यहाँ नहीं रहूँगा; अगर सूरज उगे और तुम्हारी आँखें मेरे लिए आँसुओं से भरी मिलें — तो मेरी बहुत इच्छा है कि तुम वैसे न रोओ जैसे आज रोए थे, उन बहुत-सी बातों को याद करके जो हम एक-दूसरे से कह ही नहीं पाए। मैं जानता हूँ तुम मुझे कितना चाहते हो, और यह भी कि तुम मुझे याद करोगे; पर जब कल मेरे बिना शुरू हो, तो समझने की कोशिश करना कि एक फ़रिश्ता आया, उसने मेरा नाम पुकारा और मेरा हाथ थाम लिया। उसने कहा कि ऊपर मेरी जगह तैयार है, और मुझे उन सबको पीछे छोड़ना होगा जिन्हें मैं दिल से चाहता हूँ। पर जैसे ही मैं मुड़कर चला, मेरी आँख से एक आँसू गिरा — क्योंकि ज़िंदगी भर मैंने यही सोचा था कि मुझे मरना नहीं है। जीने के लिए मेरे पास बहुत कुछ था, बहुत कुछ करना बाकी था; यह मानना लगभग नामुमकिन लग रहा था कि मैं तुम्हें छोड़कर जा रहा हूँ।

What it means

The whole poem is spoken from the far side: the dead person addressing the living, which reverses the usual direction of an elegy. Its argument rests on one claim — that the leaving was not chosen. The verbs are all passive: an angel came, called the name, took him by the hand, and the place was already ready. That passivity is what lets the speaker ask a mourner not to cry without sounding cold. He is not saying the loss is small; he is saying it was not his doing.

It is usually read as the dead person’s serene acceptance, and that reading is not what the text says. The second half withdraws the comfort it just offered: a tear fell from my eye, I didn’t want to die, so much left yet to do. The speaker is reluctant, not at peace. The poem is worth keeping precisely because it does not pretend the death was fine, and because it names the sharpest part of grief with unusual accuracy — not the funeral, not the absence in general, but the many things we didn’t get to say.

What it teaches you

Notice which regret the poem actually singles out: unfinished conversation, the things not said, rather than years lost or plans unfinished. That is a regret with a short shelf life and an obvious remedy — the sentence you are postponing with a parent, a sibling, a friend is the exact item this poem is about. And if you are passing these lines to someone in mourning, read the second half before you send them: the speaker is crying too, so using the poem to tell a grieving person to stop crying gets it backwards.

अर्थ और सीख

यह कविता मरने वाले की ज़बानी कही गई है, जो पीछे छूट गए अपनों को समझा रहा है कि जाना उसकी मर्ज़ी से नहीं हुआ — उसे हाथ पकड़कर ले जाया गया। लोग अकसर इसे मौत को शांति से स्वीकार करने वाली कविता मान लेते हैं, जबकि कविता खुद कहती है कि जाते हुए उसकी आँख से आँसू गिरा और वह जाना नहीं चाहता था। सबसे गहरी टीस जो यह कविता चुनती है, वह है वे बातें जो कही ही नहीं जा सकीं — इसलिए जो बात आप किसी अपने से कहना टाल रहे हैं, उसे टालना बंद कीजिए।

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