Gitanjali: Rabindranath Tagore Essay Example

Tagore's Gitanjali, stating it stirred his blood like nothing else had before. Yeats believed this work came from a supreme civilization with a tradition of poetry and faith that thrived on metaphor and emotion. He contrasted it with his own civilization's never-ending battle against bad taste, stating that if life wasn't plagued by so many struggles then people wouldn't have the ability to recognize what is truly good and worthwhile, making the majority of their energy a product of their fights.Yeats accurately identifies the mood of his time, whether in our own minds or those of others. While his harsh critique of his own culture's motivation towards art may seem severe, it is understandable given the era he was born into, which saw two devastating Western wars. Yeats believed that artists were often motivated by warfare. However, he acknowledged that Tagore's accomplishments were exceptional. Unlike Yeats, Tagore's songs are not just recognized and respected by scholars; they are also sung by villagers in the fields. In fact, Yeats could not have imagined his own poetry to be accepted by such a wide audience.

My favorite Gitanjali poem, #7, speaks of simplicity and humbleness. It reads: "My song has shed its ornaments. It has no pride in clothing or adornment. Decorations would divide us and come between you and me. Their clatter would drown your whispers. My poet's ego is ashamed before you. O Master Poet, let me live my life simple and straightforward like a reed flute for you to fill with music."Dear Master Poet, I humbly sit before thee. Please allow me to lead a simple and straightforward life, like a reed flute for you

to fill with beautiful music. Although these words may seem abstract, they carry a profound message of love that is pure and not restricted by societal norms. Love is like a free bird yearning for communion, much like human love and heavenly love that coexist in Jayadeva's GeetGovind. Vaishnavs like Jayadeva drew inspiration from Lord Vishnu, especially his embodiment as Krishna. Similarly, Tagore found similarities between human and heavenly love in the Baul community of Bengal and translated them into his poetry. Such literature unifies the whole state by foregrounding pure emotions like love, displaying the diversity of our cosmopolitan civilization as a beautiful tapestry of emotions. Tagore's poetry is like Chaucer's precursor, full of music and passion, bold and surprising, without any need for defense or explanation. These poems are not meant for small, well-printed books on ladies' tables, but for all to cherish and appreciate.People who idly turn pages are able to sigh over a life lacking significance, which is all they comprehend of life, or carried by students at university to be forgotten when the work of life commences. However, as generations pass, travelers on the highway and men rowing on rivers will hum these pages. Lovers await one another and find in them the love of God, a charming gulf wherein their own more acrimonious passion may bathe and regenerate its youthfulness. The heart of this poet flows outward to these people without belittlement or arrogance, for it knows they will comprehend, and it is occupied with the details of their lives. The traveler in attire that doesn't show dust, the girl searching for fallen petals from her royal lover's garland,

the servant or bride awaiting the master’s homecoming in an empty house - these are images of hearts turned to God. Flowers and rivers, the sound of conch shells, heavy rain in Indian July, or the emotions of hearts in brotherhood or separation- even a man sitting in a boat upon a river playing a lute- all embody God Himself, like characters with a mysterious significance in a Chinese painting. A whole people, a whole civilization infinitely different from us have been taken up into this imagination, but we are not moved because of its unfamiliarity.The text, which includes and their contents, discusses the experience of encountering one's own image and hearing one's voice in a dream-like state, possibly reminiscent of literature. It refers to Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali, which is available as an electronic text through the University of Virginia's Electronic Text Centre.