RABINDRANATH TAGOR is the best poet and writer in India also in world. I love his work very much and many of his poet or writing added in our syllabus. I love to read the poetry as well as songs. The national Anthem written by R.N Tagore.
GITANJALI was written by R.N Tagore and the original poems are written in Bengali, he native language of Tagore. He then translated them (and many other works) to English. What can get better than reading the poems translated by the poet himself? Of course, nothing compares to the beauty of reading them in the original language, but since I do not know the language, I have to settle for the next best.
Tagore was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India. He wrote his first poem when he was around eight years old. Songs, sketches, poems, short stories, and prose- Tagore had numerous talents as a musician, polymath, artist, essayist, composer, playwright, and poet.
From his birth to his death (7 May 1861- 7 August 1941), Tagore’s entire life was during the British Raj (British rule) in India. He was a part of the freedom struggle. He wrote and composed the National Anthem of India and Bangladesh [which was then a part of Akhand Bharat (United :and of Bharat)].
The English version of Gitanjali contains 69 poems from the Bengali version of the Book along with rest of his work. He made a few changes, such as clubbing two poems and removing some phrases during the translation. The original Bengali collection was first published in 1910. The translated version was published in 1912, which won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He was the first non-European to receive the award.
The second edition of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) has an introduction written by WB Yeats. The core theme of Gitanjali is devotion to the Supreme. The poems are steeped in spiritual essence. The title suits the theme to perfection.
Gita- song
Anjali- offer with the utmost devotion.
The poems are written in the style of the era, where words and spellings are different from today’s English. This period could be called the Indian Renaissance of English language. You will see words like thou, thee, thy, etc. in every poem. While most poems have one-sided conversations with God, some are narrated to fellow villagers, Mother, and even readers. Nature, love (for God), simplicity, devotion, death, graceful acceptance of situations, gratitude, peace, happiness, melancholy, and life are some of the recurring themes of his poems. The imagery is vivid and marvellous. We can feel the hills, the rivers, the open sky, birds flying around. We can hear the sounds of gushing waters, feel the warmth of a kerosene lamp on a twilight evening, and breathe in the scent of night flowers.
The poems are metrical in Bengali. In English, they are lyrical and flow like the waves of a brook. Most of them are about half a page in length. A handful of poems are longer than a page. But the amount of emotion and imagery he packs in each poem is immense.
The Book helped Tagore to achieve the Award Nobel Prize and Tagore became first person to get Nobel Prize in Literature. We all proud of him.
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