Yogananda's Wake, Wake, My Sleeping Hunger
Spiritual Realization
The speaker of Paramahansa Yogananda’s “Wake, Wake, My sleeping Hunger, Wake!” metaphorically refers to that strange craving as “hunger” and “thirst.”
First Stanza: “When tables large — of earth and moon and meteors”
The speaker addresses his own, bewildering hunger, commanding it to rouse itself. There exists for every soul a veritable banquet of things to feast upon with the eye and ear. The “tables” are huge and resemble a sumptuous meal spread out for honored guests. But instead of mere food, these tables contain the universe of “earth and moon and meteors,” and “brooks and rills” along with “shining ether ore.” These things all signify a “wondrous One Nectar,” indicating that not only the eye and ear may be greeted but also the sense of taste is included.
This fabulous ambrosial liquid offered for imbibing has figuratively been “stolen from nature’s nooks” by the gods of domesticity. The speaker implies that his attention has been suffering “sullen sleep,” instead of observing all of these magnificent God-given gifts that should inspire and motivate him. Thus he commands his lagging mood, “Wake, wake, my sleeping Hunger, wake!” This command becomes the important refrain completing each stanza.
Second Stanza: “Through diverse paths of aeons thou hast cried”
The speaker then reveals that his soul has traveled the cosmos “through diverse paths of aeons,” and he has been a beggar, crying for crumbs. Now he finds himself exhausted by this journey, while he is within reach of his goal. He castigates his inertia, mocking his tear-besmeared cheeks, informing his lazy attitude that “Nectar touches thy lips.” He is able to quench his long-suffered thirst, if only he will “partake!”
Thus, the speaker repeats his refrain, “Wake, wake, my sleeping Hunger, wake!” His thirst and his hunger conflate into a craving that has bedeviled him for many incarnations, but now he is whipping his effort into the discipline required to realize that he must wake up and experience the all-satisfying “manna” of his own soul.
Third Stanza: “This unquenched Hunger old of mine”
The speaker then reports that although he had consumed “all fare,” still he was unable to satisfy that “unquenched Hunger.” Even satiated with food, he remained “starved” and continued to search for the nourishment that would finally gratify his craving. Now, he realizes that he must awake to his soul.
Fourth Stanza: “Friends, wealth, and fancy’s rarest treat”
Again, during all that time and many experiences when the speaker sought relief, he could not find it anywhere, but “[t]he Nectar sought for seeks thee now.” His search has finally led him to the place where he is being sought after by the only Power with the ability to satisfy his hunger and thirst, and all he has to do is wake up and realize it.
Fifth Stanza: “My Hunger, thou hast burned and wept to drink”
The speaker then reminds his craving that it has worked so hard to quell its trammels; it has “wept to drink / Life’s mysteries,” and it has desired nothing but truth. But the hard work has succeeded and now, “Thy work is done; thy Nectar’s here — / Quench, quench th’ eternal ache! / Wake, wake, my sleeping Hunger, wake!”
The devotee who spiritually labors for many years to unite his soul with the Divine may need a final nudge in recognizing his own success.
Paramahansa Yogananda
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Songs of the Soul
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