|
|
| The
Rabindranath Tagore |
|
| |
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a
leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious
sect in nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted
a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism
as laid down in the Upanishads. He was educated
at home; and although at seventeen he was sent
to England for formal schooling, he did not finish
his studies there. In his mature years, in addition
to his many-sided literary activities, he managed
the family estates, a project which brought him
into close touch with common humanity and increased
his interest in social reforms. He also started
an experimental school at Shantiniketan where
he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education.
From time to time he participated in the Indian
nationalist movement, though in his own non-sentimental
and visionary way; and Gandhi, the political father
of modern India, was his devoted friend.
|
|
Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government
in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the
honour as a protest against British policies in
India. Tagore
had early success as a writer in his native Bengal.
With his translations of some of his poems he
became rapidly known in the West. In fact his
fame attained a luminous height, taking him across
continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship.
For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual
heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal,
he became a great living institution.
Although
Tagore wrote successfully in all literary genres,
he was first of all a poet. Among his fifty and
odd volumes of poetry are Manasi (1890) [The Ideal
One], Sonar Tari (1894) [The Golden Boat], Gitanjali
(1910) [Song Offerings], Gitimalya (1914) [Wreath
of Songs], and Balaka (1916) |
| |
 |
[The
Flight of Cranes]. The English renderings of his
poetry, which include The Gardener (1913), Fruit-Gathering
(1916), and The Fugitive (1921), do not generally
correspond to particular volumes in the original
Bengali; and in spite of its title, Gitanjali:
Song Offerings (1912), the most acclaimed of them,
contains poems from other works besides its namesake.
Tagore's
major plays are Raja (1910) [The King of the Dark
Chamber], Dakghar (1912) [The Post Office], Achalayatan
(1912) [The Immovable], Muktadhara (1922) [The
Waterfall], and Raktakaravi (1926) [Red Oleanders].
He is the author of several volumes of short stories
and a number of novels, among them Gora (1910),
Ghare-Baire (1916) [The Home and the World], and
Yogayog (1929) [Crosscurrents]. Besides these,
he wrote musical dramas, dance dramas, essays
of all types, travel diaries, and two autobiographies,
one in his middle years and the other shortly
before his death in 1941. Tagore also left numerous
drawings and paintings, and songs for which he
wrote the music himself |
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|