RABINDRANATH TAGORE AN EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY INDIAN POET Dipannita Ghosh
Poetry is amongst the earliest forms of creative expression within human civilization. It’s origins can be found in the oral culture of ancient civilizations. The form of poetry through verse, lyrics, songs and poems has continued to develop differently in various countries and cultures throughout the ages. In India too, the poetry in the modern Indian languages has had a rich and varied history with its roots in ancient languages, folk cultures and traditions. Moreover, translation has played an important role in the movement of writings from one language to another amongst the many different languages and literatures in the country. The far reach of many Indian literary texts is primarily due to their translation into the English language. This is because English has a wider literary reach across various regions of India as compared to any other Indian language. Further, translations of Indian Writings into English also makes them accessible to a global audience. Modern Indian literatures developed under the movement for freedom and independence from the British colonial regimes. The interactions of many Indian authors with Western literature in the wake of the spread of colonial education in pre-independence India also had a major impact on the writings in different modern Indian languages. Here we shall understand the trajectory of the development of Modern Indian Poetry through the pre
independence era down to the present day by studying the translated works of three major Indian poets namely Rabindranath Tagore, G. M. Muktibodh and Thangjam Ibopishak. • To understand the history and development of Modern Indian Poetry • To examine the style and tone of different Indian poets • To assess the political, societal, cultural and spiritual roles of poetry Born on 7th May, 1861, Tagore was one of the most prolific writers of his time, along with being a thinker, social reformer, painter and music composer. He was also a prominent political thinker and essayist who was invited the world over for his work. Tagore had been awarded the knighthood in 1915, an honour which he later rejected in 1919 as a protest against the heinous Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. He is credited with making major transformations in the domain of Bengali literature. He introduced newer forms and modernized the usage of the Bengali language as it was predominantly used in literature by freeing it from the traditional Sanskritic mode. He also conceptualized a different mode of education and set up the experimental institute, Shantiniketan in West Bengal. In Shantiniketan, as indeed in a lot of his work, Tagore sought to bring together the best of the two disparate worlds of the East and the West. Tagore initially made his mark on the international map for being the first non-European to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. He received this award for his collection of poetry titled Gitanjali. The famous Irish poet W. B. Yeats wrote the ‘Introduction’ for the first translation of Gitanjali into English (by Tagore himself, 1912). Yeats aptly commented on the deeply spiritual nature of Tagore’s poetry, which however never loses sight of the earthly concerns of day-to-day life. Where the Mind is Without Fear Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 4. THE POEM 3. THE POET (1861 – 1941) 2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 132 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 4.1 Analytical Summary This oft cited poem by Tagore is the thirty fifth poem in Gitanjali (Song Offerings). The reason for its widespread popularity is that the poet says a prayer for the betterment of his country. It is often recited as a pledge or prayer at gatherings or cited as a mission for the bright future of a progressive country. Writing at a time when India was under British rule, we see Tagore talk about freedom as the goal for his country. But the most significant aspect of this poem, is that it is not bound my measly political definitions. It does not understand freedom as fighting battles with the British, but rather aims to understand what being human and being free means. Tagore does not confine the idea of freedom to certain lines and borders that can be drawn on the political map of the country: “…a land uncrippled, Whole, uncramped by any confining wall…” To him an ideal world would be where these borders do not exist, as these borders would only confine people within narrow walls and hence such a world would not be free. Freedom for the country here also imagines a land where all people can live with dignity and be respected: “A fearless place where everyone walks tall, Free to share knowledge…” Tagore was acutely aware of the inequalities in Indian society. The widespread illiteracy and lack of education could be seen to lead to further evils. Knowledge being held ransom in the hands of the few, the rich and powerful people is also being criticized by the poet. The poet wishes that knowledge would be free for all. Moreover, the deception of the masses by the powerful ruling classes throughout the ages is criticized. The lower classes of society, the 133 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi Introduction to Literary Studies poor, the workers, the peasants are routinely oppressed by newer regimes of power. Through the victory of truth and knowledge Tagore wishes for a freedom of these oppressed classes. In the image of the ideal world and ideal country that Tagore creates, he criticizes blind faith in tradition and conservatism. He envisages– “A place where reason’s flow is not soaked up By barren desert-sands of bigotry, Where niggling rules and dogmas do not sap It’s vigour…” Reason, rationality and logical thought must triumph in his free country. As opposed to this, the poet saw in his countrymen the rejection of reason merely to go on doing what they have always done. This is labelled as dead habit and desert sands. The stupor in the minds of people who no longer question their practices and beliefs, and go on acting in ways that can harm themselves as well as society is deplored. For example, there persisted widespread superstition and practices like Sati, ban on widow remarriage, etc. where dead habit had been winning over clear reason. Hence, he uses the image of reason being a river that could bring to life the dead and barren desert that the country has become relying on customs and traditionalism. Tagore uses the metaphor of sleep to describe his country which is riddled with social evils, inequalities and oppression. Trapped in this sleep, the country would be free when it awakens: “…where rippled By millions of varied aspirations, a great River of action surges through… … Bring India to that heaven; wake this land.” This awakening, moreover, would only be attained when the aforementioned ideas of Freedom are not merely being talked about but are converted into concrete action. The poet prays for an ongoing strife from his people, towards reaching this ideal. 134 | P a g e © Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning, School of Open Learning, University of Delhi B.A. (Hons.) English/B.A. (Programme) • Radice, William translated “Where the Mind is Without Fear” from Tagore, Rabindranath.Gitanjali: Song Offerings. Penguin India, 2011. • Goldberg, Ellen. “The Romanticism of Rabindranath Tagore: Poetry as Sadhana.” Indian Literature, vol. 45, no. 4 (204), Sahitya Akademi, 2001, pp. 173–96, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23344261 • “Rabindranath Tagore” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rabindranath-Tagore • Hogan, Patrick Colm and Pandit, Lalita ed. Rabindranath Tagore: Universality and Tradition. Rosemont Printing & Publishing Corp. 2003. 4.2 Check Your Progress 1. Why does Tagore describe India as a sleeping country? 2. What does the imagery of storms and rain denote? 3. How would you describe Tagore’s idea of divinity
