Gitanjali Song Offerings by Rabindranath Tagore
"Gitanjali: Song Offerings" is a renowned collection of 103 prose poems by Rabindranath Tagore, originally composed in Bengali and later translated into English by the author himself. This work garnered Tagore international acclaim and contributed to him becoming the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The poems explore the profound connection between the human spirit and the divine, intertwining sensual imagery with themes of devotion. Many readers draw parallels between "Gitanjali" and the biblical "Song of Songs," though Tagore's focus leans towards the relationship between humanity and the divine rather than romantic love.
Influenced by the Vaishnava poetic tradition, Tagore employs varied voices within the collection, sometimes embodying a female perspective reminiscent of Radha, the beloved of Krishna, and at other times expressing a male longing for divine union. Despite its diverse themes, "Gitanjali" maintains an overarching unity, with each poem reflecting a devotional tone and common motifs, such as the importance of truth and purity. The collection balances themes of joy, longing, and spiritual fulfillment, and it culminates in a triumphant embrace of unity with the divine. As such, "Gitanjali: Song Offerings" remains a cherished exploration of spirituality and love that resonates with a wide range of audiences.
Gitanjali Song Offerings by Rabindranath Tagore
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:Gitānjali,1910 (English translation, 1912)
Type of work: Poetry
The Work
Gitanjali Song Offerings is a collection of 103 prose poems, selected by Tagore from among his Bengali poems and translated by him into English. The collection brought Tagore international attention and won him the Nobel Prize in Literature. Although Tagore later published more than twenty additional volumes of his poetry in English translation, Gitanjali Song Offerings remained one of his most beloved works.
Western readers immediately noted similarities between GitanjaliSong Offerings and the biblical Song of Songs, which most theologians insist deals not with a human union but with Christ’s love for his church. Though Gitanjali Song Offerings also is filled with sensual imagery, there is no doubt that Tagore’s subject is the relationship between a human being and the divine. When Tagore mentioned his admiration for Vaishnava poetry in an essay published in 1912, undoubtedly he had in mind the Gita Govinda, a long poem written in the twelfth century by the Bengali poet Sri Jayadev, which Westerners have often called the Indian Song of Songs. The Gita Govinda shows the god Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna, in passionate pursuit of the cowgirl Radha. Since Vaishnavism, or the worship of this very human god, was especially popular in Bengal, Bengali poets often wrote about Krishna’s love for Radha. Though Tagore himself, reared a theist, did not adhere to Vaishnavism, he drew upon the Vaishnava tradition for his imagery because he saw the many similarities between the pursuit of a lover and a human being’s pursuit of the divine or the reverse. The Vaishnava tradition also accounts for variations in the poetic voice. Sometimes, as in numbers 49 and 52, the speaker seems to be a woman like Radha, a beggar maid waiting for her king; at other times, the poet is clearly a male, desirous of union with the divine.
Though GitanjaliSong Offerings is a collection, not a single narrative, it does have a certain unity. All of the poems are devotional in nature, and they all have the tender tone of conventional love poems. There are also several motifs or subordinate themes that are repeated and recombined throughout the collection. In the first three poems, for example, the writer emphasizes his smallness and his helplessness before his lord. Then the emphasis shifts to what is expected of the writer: He must live a life of truth, purity, and simplicity, thus reflecting the nature of the divinity he serves. However, in several poems, including number 73, the poet maintains that union with the divine does not mean renunciation of the senses but a fuller appreciation of what they reveal, notably the beauties of the natural world.
Though in number 35, the writer asks that his country be led toward reason and freedom, usually the prayers are personal. Naturally, the mood may shift: Though many are poems of praise and joy, some speak of the writer’s desperate longing for the beloved, and others express feelings of abandonment. Toward the end of the volume, the writer turns to the subject of time, and finally, he anticipates his own death. Gitanjali Song Offerings ends on a note of triumph, with the poet finally united with his beloved God.
Bibliography
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Chatterjee, Bhabatosh. Rabindranath Tagore and Modern Sensibility. Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Datta, Pradip Kumar, ed. Rabindranath Tagore’s “The Home and the World”: A Critical Companion. London: Anthem Press, 2005.
Dutta, Krishna, and Andrew Robinson. Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-Minded Man. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Gupta, Uma Das. Rabindranath Tagore: A Biography. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Hogan, Patrick Colm, and Lalita Pandit, eds. Rabindranath Tagore: Universality and Tradition. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003.
Lago, Mary M. Rabindranath Tagore. Boston: Twayne, 1976.