Gitanjali : collection of Rabindranath’s Bengali songs, translated by him into English; he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.
... Tagore's Gitanjali is not in verse, but the place it has taken has some significance. For the obstacles from the other side are that the English mind is apt to look on poetry by an Indian as a curiosity, something exotic (whether it really is or not, the suggestion will be there), and to stress the distance at which the English temperament stands from the Indian temperament. But Tagore's Gitanjali is ...
... vaktavya : theme. × Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. × Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. × ...
... semi-romantic sentimentalism of expression which tried in vain to echo the beautiful rhythms and inner-heart responses of the Gitanjali. The Gitanjali will remain a classic in its kind along with The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran which achieves in terms of power what the Gitanjali does in terms of exquisiteness and, as far as 1 know, Yeats had very little to do with its English. In my old correspondence... "sentimental rubbish" and this is intrinsically nothing to do with English as such. The contents of Tagore's post-Gitanjali writing was poor and no amount of good English could have essentially helped. Besides, the fault did not lie in Tagore's attempting English poetry: even the Gitanjali is not poetry proper: it has neither what you call "formal structures" such as Yeats clung to for all the modernity... Their ancient, glittering eyes are gay. Very aptly you have shown the inner touch between the ultimate attitudes of the Irish master and the Indian with that splendid phrase from the Gitanjali that brings your admirable review to its close: "When I go from hence let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable." Please forgive me if I have tired you with the ...
... fine prose translations of poets so much better and more akin to the spirit of the original than any poetic version of them yet made? One need not go farther than Tagore's English version of his Gitanjali . If poetry can be translated so admirably (and therefore legitimately) into prose, why should not prose be translated legitimately (and admirably) into poetry? After all, rules are made more for ...
... adding: "And what of the reverse cases - the many fine prose translations of poets so much better and more akin to the spirit of the original than any poetic version ever made? And what of Tagore's Gitanjali? If poetry can be translated so admirably (and therefore legitimately) into prose, why should not prose be translated legitimately (and admirably) into poetry? After all, rules are made more for ...
... His argument is the old one: you can’t create first-class stuff in a learned language. And then where Tagore too has failed, etc. You know all that. What was the failure? Tagore’s Gitanjali had an immense success. I am not troubled as I write in English because 1)1 like to, 2) it puts me in a right attitude. But I often think of this problem. I now-a-days feel ...
... From the golden beach of the other shore Imbedded in darkness What enchantment came with a song upsetting my work? Page 189 This tune has been uppermost in most of the poems of 'Gitanjali' and 'Gitali'. Afterwards we hear once again the resonance of a high emotional, impassioned voice. The tune reaches a lofty pitch, the melody is far flung, but it is more steady and firm; no longer ...
... and experiences and utterances the cent per .cent accuracy and inevitability of ¹ "Deliverance is not for me in renunciation. I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight." -Gitanjali, Page 99 a Yogic consciousness. Still his major perceptions, those that count, stand and are borne out by the highest spiritual realisation. Tagore is no inventor or innovator ...
... all Indian mysticism — the calm shadow of the overhead. The overhead, however; is an undifferentiated influence in him, far and faint, never intimately known. It may be argued that after all his Gitanjali is prose-poetry and is thus prevented from the absolute overhead ring. But, though not so clearly as in poetry proper, that ring can still make prose its medium. Two of the most clearly overhead... head and shoulders over the Yeats-Puro-hit team-work; but its most choice quality is the overhead breath — a quality which we might expect from an Indian like Tagore in the mystical prose-poetry of Gitanjali. Tagore, however, gets the overhead afflatus to a recognisable degree no more than once — in a serm-rerniniscence of the Upanishad's verse about the Transcendental. As he originally wrote them, the... normal mind and heart. Except in rare pieces there is very little of the Upanishadic inspiration. The Shelleyan "white radiance" of which Tagore gave an Indian avatar in the passage quoted from Gitanjali becomes in Chattopadhyaya: ...the naked everlastingness That nor by pleasure nor by pain is stirred, Being a hush that bears no human word Page 131 Nor deed nor dream ...
... all Indian mysticism - the calm shadow of the overhead. The overhead, however, is an undifferentiated influence in him, far and faint, never intimately known. It may be argued that after all his Gitanjali is prose-poetry and is thus prevented from the absolute overhead ring. But, though not so clearly as in poetry proper, that ring can still make prose its medium. Two of the most c 1 early overhead... head and shoulders over the Yeats-Purohit team-work; but its most choice quality is the overhead breath - a quality which we might expect from an Indian like Tagore in the mystical prose-poetry of Gitanjali. Tagore, however, gets the overhead afflatus to a recognisable degree no more than once - in a semi-reminiscence of the Upanishad's verse about the Transcendental. As he originally wrote them, the... normal mind and heart. Except in rare pieces there is very little of the Upanishadic inspiration. The Shelleyan "white radiance" of which Tagore gave an Indian avatar in the passage quoted from Gitanjali becomes in Chattopadhyaya: ...the naked everlastingness That nor by pleasure nor by pain is stirred, Being a hush that bears no human word Nor deed nor dream nor passion as a ...
... attempt. Several leading teachers, such as Nandalal Bose, C. F. Andrews and W. Pearson, joined him in his unusual experiment. In 1913, Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for his famous book Gitanjali. Thereafter he was invited to visit many foreign countries where he often spoke of his school and its experiments. As a result, a large number of people came to know and understand the significance... Boundless Sky (Calcutta: Visva-Bharati, 1964), pp. 84-88. The following is a list of a few selected works by Rabindranath Tagore with the year of their first publication: Poetry Gitanjali (1910), Lipika (1921). Drams ValmikiPratibha (1881), Achalayatan (1912), TasherDesh (1933), Nrityanatya Chitrangada (1936). Novels ChokherBali (1903)... variety of form and rhythm and in imaginative vigour. The period of youthful dedication to the spirit of beauty passed presently into mature contemplation and philosophic profundity. Next came the Gitanjali phase and the poet rose to world stature. The Nobel Prize award followed in 1913. The quantity of his output was immense. He wrote more than a hundred volumes of poetry and plays, but the range ...
... the mystical Reality is in them an indirect power. The indirectness is shown by their predominant aims. The mystic in quest of the divine Spirit does not hold it as his predominant aim to write a Gitanjali or to practise satyagraha. Sri Aurobindo is a poet of the highest order and the moralist's effort at detachment from gross animal desires and egoistic motives finds fulfilment in him, but poetry ...
... rich spiritual heritage and possibilities is finding expression in the English language. The first sign of this remarkable achievement in poetic creation was given by the success of Tagore's Gitanjali. It showed that the expression of the Indian Spirit even in a remarkably Indian manner can find a high place in the cultural achievement of the human spirit. In fact, that which finds expression ...
... day he delivered a speech at the Imperial University in Tokyo, ‘The Message of India to Japan.’ Tagore had become world-famous in 1913, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his volume of poetry Gitanjali. ‘I met [Rabindranath Tagore] in Japan. He claimed to have reached the peace of nirvana and it made him beam with joy. I thought: “Here is a man who claims to have found peace and reached nirvana ...
... As to the theory You spoke of, I fail still clearly subjective and objective? If so, that is a very old Page 131 quarrel, but one that I thought nobody bothers about n Tagore's Gitanjali is itself subjective and was hailed by the world as a new revelation because of that , not because of its objective power. However—. There remains the question poetic criticism, but that I must ...
... being or of Super-Nature. And here I should like to point out that in all true rishi-poems there is illumination as well as rapture, a seerhood no less than the soul's lyricism. Certain parts of Gitanjali have this double quality - so do others that are not devotional at all. Devotionalism is not the sine qua non. I don't think one could designate Tagore's "Urvasie" devotional, but I am inclined ...
... of Supernature. And here I should like to point out that in the true rishi-poems there is illumination as well as rapture, a seerhood no less than the soul's lyricism. Certain poems of Tagore's Gitanjali have this double quality - so do others that are not Page 150 devotional at all. Devotionalism is not the sine qua non. I don't think one could designate Tagore's Urvasie as ...
... guidance. To Sethna, the Divine is surely a being above him, but he often uses the rhetoric of a romantic lover to pray to Him. This is not the Tagorean style we find in the English Gitanjali . Let us listen to the rhythm of the following lines: This errant life is dear although it dies.... If Thou desirest my weak self to outgrow Its mortal longings, lean ...
... least disdain it. In the realm of spirituality there is not only Buddha as a type: There is also Mirabai. And the two types are not strictly distributed between the sexes. Tagore himself of the Gitanjali - lyrics has the bhakta's disposition. As ardent a bhakta as the woman Mirabai was the man Chaitanya, and Buddhism had nuns as well as monks. Incline as it frequently may in one or the other ...
... least disdain it. In the realm of spirituality there is not only Buddha as a type: there is also Mirabai. And the two types are not strictly distributed between the sexes. Tagore himself of the Gitanjali-lyrics has the bhakta's disposition. As ardent a bhakta as the woman Mirabai was the man Chaitanya, and Buddhism had nuns as well as monks. Incline as it frequently may in one or the other direction ...
... exposition, R. K. Narayan has made by its help the novelist's art a rare blend of the simple and the subtle, Sarojini Naidu has been enchantingly lyrical in it, Tagore has given with it to his Gitanjali an immortal poignancy, Vivekananda has forged from it a thrilling Page 101 clarion of the Vedanta calling both the East and the West to God-knowledge, Sri Aurobindo has turned ...
... of course be omniscient. He asks: "Suppose an Englishman were to write a poem in Bengali, what would you say?" It would depend on the Englishman and how he did it. Dilip argued: "The Gitanjali of Tagore was appreciated and highly praised by many English poets. Conrad's prose ranks as high as any great English writer's. Sarojini Naidu and some others were praised by Gosse, Binyon and De ...
... becomes quite clear. NIRODBARAN: But mystic poetry is bound to be a little hazy and vague, at least to those who are not mystically minded. Tagore also has written simple and clear poems in his Gitanjali: for example, "Amar matha nata kare dao" ("Let my head bow down"). Perhaps one can write poetry of that kind mentally too. Is personal experience always necessary? SRI AUROBINDO: No. One need not ...
... take joy in the distant views, and welcome the rising sun. I I have given you many quotations and extracts from-poets and others in this letter. I shall finish up with one more. It is from the Gitanjali; it is a poem, or prayer, by Rabindranath Tagore: — Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up ...
... Jules, 198 -"Alter Ego", 199-200 -"Lui Seul", 201 -"Saisir", 201 Surya,166 Syria, 284 TAG ORE, RABINDRANATH, 53, 62n., 64, 66, 97-102, 222-3, 226-30, 288 -Balaka, 228 -Gitanjali, 99n -"The Golden Boat", 64n -"Salutation", 266n Tantras, the, 28-9, 165 Terence, 239n The Eternal Wisdom, 131 Theocritus, 86 . The Times Literary Supplement, 62n., 126n ...
... and experiences and utterances the cent per cent accuracy and inevitability of 1Deliverance is not for me in renunciation. I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight." — Gitanjali, 73. Page 371 a Yogic consciousness. Still his major perceptions, those that count, stand and are borne out by the highest spiritual realisation. Tagore is no inventor or innovator ...
... gained ground. Tagore's cultural contribution consists of his unique literary output and his educational institution, the ' Shantiniketan.' He burst into world fame with the Nobel Prize for the " Gitanjali ". From the vast literature he has created, it is possible to get an idea of his philosophy and his interpretation of Indian culture. The Upanishads, the works of the saints and mystics of the Middle ...
... body of literature, including poetry, written in English by Indians. For some time it was called "Indo-English literature" but since the popularity and the great triumph of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali which earned him world-recognition, the course of English literature has been more and more influenced—especially after the two world wars—by other cultural currents, from the East and from the new ...
... heritage and possibilities Page 23 is finding expression in the English language. The first sign of this remarkable achievement in poetic creation was given by the success of Tagore's "Gitanjali". It showed that the expression of the Indian Spirit even in a remarkably Indian manner, can find a high place in the cultural achievement of the human spirit. In fact, that which finds expression ...
... prayer" — Book VI, Canto 2. Page 387 Compare: Tagore's : "My desires are many and my cry is pitiful But ever didst thou save me by hard refusals" — Gitanjali. "Lingering some days upon the forest verge Like men who lengthen out departure's pain, "Unwilling to see for the last time a face Heavy with the sorrow of a coming day ...
... to become familiar with the symbol in order to grasp the truth. Disciple : But mystic poetry is bound to be a little hazy and vague. Tagore has also written simple and clear poems in his Gitanjali , e.g. "āmār māthā nata kare dao". Perhaps one can write that sort of poem mentally also. Sri Aurobindo : Yes, one need not have any experience to write that. Disciple : You once ...
... do what is best. Prayer is not for receiving the answer that one desires. It is wrong on the part of human being to say, "What I pray for must be given because I pray for it." Tagore says in his Gitanjali: "My desires are many and my cry is pitiful, and yet did thou save me by hard refusals." He is telling the Divine, "By not fulfilling my desires you have saved me." So prayer doesn't mean that what ...
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