MASTERPIECES OF WORLD LITERATURE: GITANJALI (Special Nook Edition) by RABINDRANATH TAGORE (Indian Bengali Winner of the NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE and Author of Home and the World) Poetry Influence on William Butler Yeats, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz
Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, large translations, of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated. The translations were undertaken prior to a visit to England in 1912, where the poems were extremely well received. A slender volume was published in 1913, with an exhilarating preface by W. B. Yeats. In the same year, Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel prize.
The poems of Gitanjali express a largely metaphysical outlook, talking about a union with the "supreme"; but like much western poetry that explores similar themes, the language suggests the union of two earthly lovers. This type of anthropomorphic depiction of celestial love is quite common in the Vaishnava literature of India since the 12th century. Rabindranath Tagore encountered it also in his interactions with the Baul community in rural Bengal.
Some poems involve themes related to nature, but here, too, the spiritual is subtly present, as in poem 57:
"Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad."
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The poems of Gitanjali express a largely metaphysical outlook, talking about a union with the "supreme"; but like much western poetry that explores similar themes, the language suggests the union of two earthly lovers. This type of anthropomorphic depiction of celestial love is quite common in the Vaishnava literature of India since the 12th century. Rabindranath Tagore encountered it also in his interactions with the Baul community in rural Bengal.
Some poems involve themes related to nature, but here, too, the spiritual is subtly present, as in poem 57:
"Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad."
MASTERPIECES OF WORLD LITERATURE: GITANJALI (Special Nook Edition) by RABINDRANATH TAGORE (Indian Bengali Winner of the NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE and Author of Home and the World) Poetry Influence on William Butler Yeats, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz
Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, large translations, of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated. The translations were undertaken prior to a visit to England in 1912, where the poems were extremely well received. A slender volume was published in 1913, with an exhilarating preface by W. B. Yeats. In the same year, Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel prize.
The poems of Gitanjali express a largely metaphysical outlook, talking about a union with the "supreme"; but like much western poetry that explores similar themes, the language suggests the union of two earthly lovers. This type of anthropomorphic depiction of celestial love is quite common in the Vaishnava literature of India since the 12th century. Rabindranath Tagore encountered it also in his interactions with the Baul community in rural Bengal.
Some poems involve themes related to nature, but here, too, the spiritual is subtly present, as in poem 57:
"Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad."
The poems of Gitanjali express a largely metaphysical outlook, talking about a union with the "supreme"; but like much western poetry that explores similar themes, the language suggests the union of two earthly lovers. This type of anthropomorphic depiction of celestial love is quite common in the Vaishnava literature of India since the 12th century. Rabindranath Tagore encountered it also in his interactions with the Baul community in rural Bengal.
Some poems involve themes related to nature, but here, too, the spiritual is subtly present, as in poem 57:
"Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad."
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MASTERPIECES OF WORLD LITERATURE: GITANJALI (Special Nook Edition) by RABINDRANATH TAGORE (Indian Bengali Winner of the NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE and Author of Home and the World) Poetry Influence on William Butler Yeats, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz
MASTERPIECES OF WORLD LITERATURE: GITANJALI (Special Nook Edition) by RABINDRANATH TAGORE (Indian Bengali Winner of the NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE and Author of Home and the World) Poetry Influence on William Butler Yeats, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940013033078 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Masterpieces of World Literature |
| Publication date: | 08/21/2011 |
| Series: | Indian Poetry Bengali Poetry | Literature of India and Bangladesh | Tagore Gitanjali | Nook NOOKBook , #1 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 118 KB |
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