Jagadish Chandra Bose জগদীশ চন্দ্র বসু ,“Runaway Cyclone” পলাতক তুফান (Palatak Tuphan), 1896 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
Here I present: Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর , “Song Offerings” গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), 1910 which was awarded the Literature 1913 Nobel Prize. This book by the lyricist begins with lyrics as follows:
Chapter #1.
“Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life. This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new. At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable. Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.”
Chapter #2.
“When thou commandest me to sing, it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes. All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony – and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea. I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence. I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach. Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.”
Chapter #3.
“I know not how thou singest, my master! I ever listen in silent amazement. The light of thy music illumines the world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky to sky. The holy stream of thy music breaks through all stony obstacles and rushes on. My heart longs to join in thy song, but vainly struggles for a voice. I would speak, but speech breaks not into song, and I cry out baffled. Ah, thou hast made my heart captive in the endless meshes of thy music, my master!”
Here I presented: Rabindranath Tagore রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর , “Song Offerings” গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), 1910 which was awarded the Literature 1913 Nobel Prize.
BELOW is a map of India languages; and, Hindi (half-a-billion speakers) and Bengali (quarter-a-billion speakers) are the fourth (4th) & sixth (6th) most spoken languages in the World.
I presented: Rabindranath Tagore রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর , “Song Offerings” গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), 1910 in this blog post as an example of the languages of Indology.
This publication in Bengali 1910 was translated (by Rabindranath Tagore himself) into English in 1912. Thus, this collection of 103 poems of which I show three (3) poems ABOVE from “Song Offerings” reads like the Bible book of Psalms in the King James version English.
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay বিভূতিভূষণ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের “Mountain of the Moon” চাঁদের পাহাড় Chander Pahar, 1937 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
