Rabindranath Tagore Life, Personality and Genius

557 Pages·2017·11 MB·English

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Pri nted b Thom son Co. at the Minerva Press
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T H E FOREWORD
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A U THOR S I NTROD U CTI ON
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CHAPTER I Introductory
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CHAPTER I I Gitan al i
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CHA PTER I I I T he Gardener
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CHAPTER I V T he Crescent Moon
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CHAPTER V Chitra
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CHAPTER VI T he Kin ofthe D i rk Chamber.
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CHAPTER VI I T he Post Office
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C HAPTER VI I I Kabir s Poems
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CHAPTER I X Fiction
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CHAPTER X Sadhana
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CHA PTER X I Miscella neous Writi ri s
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CHAPTER XI I Conclusion
B iblio ra hy n o
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I ndex.
089
1643
FOR EWOR D .
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Mr . R amaswam i Sastri s book m eets a need
so eneral that there i s l ittle need ofa fore
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w ord . U on the ublication of Gitan ali
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R abindranath was imm ediatel acclaim ed in
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E n land and The Gardener with i ts m ore
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secu lar loveliness robabl won a wider ublic.
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B ut the tone ofthe one as of the other was
stran
ge to E nglish readers , and few even of
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those most dee l m oved b th is oet r d id not
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desire an inter reter . For the full under
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s tandin oi R abindranath s work ver m uch
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more is needed than the oem s them selves.
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Su ch bio ra h i cal inform ation as has alread
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been iven in art b Mr. E rnest R h s is u ite
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n ecessar
; but the reat need is that we shou ld
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b e enabled to identif ourselves with the oet
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and cease to find stran eness in h i s wa s of
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motion and of s eech and articu larl in h is
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s mbolism . T h is is not eas for th e avera e
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reader wh eth er he be westerner or I ndian .
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We need the service ofone whose mind bears
kinsh i with that ofthe oet and who can inter
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ret his works from with in. One doubts wh ether
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FORE WORD .
i t is ossible for an E n lish cri tic to erform thi s
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service . T h e consciousl nurtured s iri
tu al it
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and the e cu liar s mbolism to name two
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m atters onl of the l rics are forei n to our
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own oetr . T he la s can scarcel be said
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to belon to drama as we conceive it . T heir
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s m bolism besides distractin attention fr
om
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concrete character and act ion
. roduces in The
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Kin o the D a rk Chamber articularl an
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obscurit t hat m i ht seem fatal to dram a.
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A lread in several ublished articles
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Mr. R am aswam i Sastri h as iven vital h el
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towards the understandin of R abindrahath
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and h i s reli ious l rical and dram atic conce
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t ions and now he has iven us a com rehensive
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s tud that i s l ikel to be invaluable . For th is
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oet i s undoubtedl th e noblest ofthose who
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i n our tim e have found utterance in E n lish
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the clearest of vision th e most sublim e in
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thou ht and in s eech wh ile at the same tim e
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rooted and rounded in th e love of all the
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loveliness ofearth.
MAD R AS
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. c . R OL L O.
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Ma 1916
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A UTHOR S INTR OD UCTION.
I am sending thi s book into the wide world fully
alive to i t s many imperfections. To inte rpret to the
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world S ir R abi ndranath T a ore s gen ius adequa tely
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we must have a cri tic who is at th e same time a great
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poet a passionate lover ofI ndia and I ndi a s imm emo
,
rial spir itual ideals a practical humanitarian whose
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interests are as var ied as l ife and in whose heart love
for humani ty forms with love of motherland and love
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of God the holy trini ty which at th e same time i s a
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uni ty oi h is heart s adoration and a saint who h as
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soared on the wings of love and wisdom to the very
Throne ofGrace.
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I have further laboured under the great d isadvantag
ofnot knowing the great Bengal i lan uage in wh ich
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T a ore s greatest works are written. I h ave resolved
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to learn i t at least for having the joy of readin
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his works in the original. I have however laboured
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har d to collect and group and systematise all the
numerous translati ons ofhi s songs poems stories and
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essays that have appeared i n var ious magazines and
reviews from time to time . I shal l feel obl ed and
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grateful to an one who vouchsafes supplementary
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information to me on th is matter. I h ave appended 3.
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AUTHOR S INTRODUCTI ON
of this work. I thank also th e editors of the Vedanta
Kesari the Madras Fortni htl and the L i terar oum al
, g y , y f
for allowing me to use my ar ticle s on Tagore publi shed
i n the se j ournals though as a matte r offact this book
,
proceeds on new and or iginal l i nes altogether.
I ndia i s et th e true home of beauty and romance
y ,
and the infini te ar ti stic and spir i tual r i ches lying
neglec ted in our books and folklore and life requi re the
work ofmany men ofgen ius of the type ofTagore to
revea l them in the fulness oftheir radiance to the world.
I shal l deem it the highest reward for my work it I
et t h e bless ings ofmy countrymen and ofall love rs of
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I ndi a to enable me to take a part however humble i t
,
may be in the great and holy work of reveali n t he
, g
Soul ofI ndia to the world.
S I R R A B I N D R A N A T H T A GOR E
H I S L IFE P E R SON A L IT Y A N D GE N IU S .
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CHAPTE R I .
INTR OD UCTOR Y.
I . PR O E M.
Mi ss E velyn Underh i ll says in her admi rable I ntroduc
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tion to the A utobiography ofS ir R abi ndrana th T a ore s
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fathe r Maharshi D evendranath Tagore : A s th e poems
ofR abindranath Tagore are examples unique in our t ime
,
rare in any t ime ofthis syntheti c myst ic i sm a whole
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and balanced atti tude to the infinite and intimate trans
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cendent and immanent real i ty ofGod as they speak to
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u s out oflife i tself et not out of the thin and restles s
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plane ofe xistence wh ich we call by that august name
so that same depth and ri chness ofview which e scapes
,
al ike ex treme absoluti sm and extreme immanentism
,
wh ich embraces the un iversal without ever losing touch
w i th the personal i s found to be th e govern ing i ntui
,
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t ion of h i s fath er s l ife . I n h i s recent book on R abindra
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nath Ta ore Mr. E rnest R hys says On one occasion
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i n London after th e reading ofthe poet s play Chitra
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Mr. Montagu. the Under Secretary ofS tate for I ndia
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d escribed h ow when riding through an I ndi an forest
,