Gitanjali

Fantastic writing and a great translation. I feel more in touch with my culture now that I’ve read it.

I read Tagore's translation into English of his Bengali song lyrics back in the 1960s. The way he uses God and Lord in that translation, which I no longer have a copy of, struck me as quite at odds with what he actually meant. He never believed in the Western idea of some objective God controlling the Universe, but only in an experience you either have or have not had, rather what I think Jesus was actually referring to. Having had that experience part-way when I was 11, and Tagore's having had apparently the complete experience when he was 17, his songs seem to me to be his struggle to have the experience again, which it seems he never did. I certainly haven't. This translation gives a somewhat better idea of what Tagore meant. There is a fuller philosophical explanation in the Northrup book "The Meeting of East and West". In my elementary astronomy classes, I usually gave students a choice on the final between a few objective questions or commenting on one or two of Tagore's lyrics as they felt them, which to me is as important as the color-magnitude diagram.

Rabindranath Tagore's "Gintanjali" or "Song Offerings" have been stopping people in their tracks for almost 100 years with their gentle reminder that the spiritual is also everyday personal and can change a world. So it is no wonder that artist Mark McGinnis stopped everything else when he read the poems; the delightful surprises in "Gintanjali: Offerings of Song and Art" are the 103 exquisitely detailed and elegantly simple paintings that he painted to accompany them. The paintings become windows, doors and skylights that invite readers to take another step out of their everyday lives. The paintings gently lead the eyes while the words take root. The songs begin to resonate in another way as we pause just a little longer, and quiet becomes visual in McGinnis' well-thought art. This is also a beautiful book to hold. The weight of the paper and the quality of the printing complement a simple and elegant design that allow readers to discover the luminous quality of this art and these songs. McGinnis' paintings are dropped like jewels, usually one on each page, with a poem underneath. Each becomes its own composition. Each stands alone yet flows into the whole. Those who have already read Tagore's songs will find another dimension in this edition. Those who have encounter them for the first time in this book will be introduced to a double feast.

Rabindranath Tagore offers the discerning reader "manna for the spirit". In truth, this small volume of poetry consists of English translations of Bengali songs of worship. My well worn copy from 1971 (MacMillan and Company, New York) has stood the test of time, being read and reread many times in the past 24 years. Surprise (!!!) the price only went up by 5 cents! Tagore is my favorite poet, he approaches the deepest most spiritual aspects of life with simplicity, grace, and reverence. Using the imagery of nature, he connects the reader to the truth of living, being, experiencing this world in all its myriad of forms. His poems touch depths within the soul of the reader in unexpected and unimaginable ways ... Perhaps at the end of the day, the reader can concur with the words of Tagore in poem # 16: "I have had my invitation to life's festival, and my life has been blessed. My eyes have seen and my ears have heard. It was my part to play upon my instrument, and I have done all I could. Now, I ask, has the time come at last when I may go in and see thy face and offer thee my salutations." Excerpts from Poem # 57 "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 into profusion. Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure." Poem # 90 "On the day when death will knock at thy door what wilt thou offer him?" Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore is a series of poems exposing Tagore's search for union with the divine. Tagore, a Bengali Hindu, writes with great beauty, emotion and simplicity. Reading the poems in order (there are 157 poems, each about a page or less long) shows the waxing and waning cycles of Tagore's spiritual life. Sometimes God is present to Tagore, only to leave later. A Christian spiritual seeker myself, I could easily relate to the pendulum swing that Tagore writes about: the joys, frustrations and patience. Tagore himself made an English translation of these poems for which he won the Nobel prize for literature in the early 20th century (the first non-European to win the literature prize). Here the translation is by a Catholic monk who spent most of his adult life in Bengal, and many scholars think his translation is better than Tagore's, due to his absolute fluency in both languages. I have read beautiful poems by many spiritual writers, and I found Tagore's Gitanjali the most approachable and meaningful. Highest recommendation.

The word and the deed were never far from each other in Tagore's life and not surprisingly he advocated the Universal Man. He was a polymath: a poet, fiction writer, dramatist, painter, educator, political thinker, philosopher of science. He was also a genius in music, choreography, architecture, social service and statesmanship. Over six decades Tagore gave the world some 2,500 songs, more than 2,000 paintings and drawings, 28 volumes of poetry, drama, opera, short stories, novels, essays and diaries and a vast number of letters. I would enthusiatically recommend this book by my favorite author. Like the Psalms of David, Gitanjali is a soothing balm to the spirit. I read this entire book in less than two hours and has been my long-trip travel companion ever since. The introduction to the book by W. B. Yeats is magical and all the poems in this book transcend your imagination. The variety and quality of the poems are unbelievable!