印度 公元
(
1861年五月7日～
1941年八月7日)
泰戈尔
拉賓德拉納特·泰戈爾[Rabindranath Tagore]（1861年5月7日—1941年8月7日）是一位印度詩人、哲學家和印度民族主義者，1913年他獲得諾貝爾文學奬，是第一位獲得諾貝爾文學奬的亞洲人。
泰戈爾出生於印度加爾各答一個受到良好教育的富裕家庭，他的父親是一位地方的印度教宗教領袖。在外國泰戈爾一般被看作是一位詩人，而很少被看做一位哲學家，但在印度這兩者往往是相同的。在他的詩中含有深刻的宗教和哲學的見解。對泰戈爾來說，他的詩是他奉獻給神的禮物，而他本人是神的求婚者。他的詩在印度享有史詩的地位。他本人被許多印度教徒看作是一個聖人。
除詩外泰戈爾還寫了小說、小品文、遊記、話劇和2000多首歌麯。他的詩歌主要是用孟加拉語寫成的，在孟加拉語地區，他的詩歌非常普及。
他的散文內容主要是社會、政治和教育，他的詩歌，除了其中的宗教內容外，最主要的是描寫自然和生命。在泰戈爾的詩歌中，生命本身和它的多樣性就是歡樂的原因。同時，他所表達的愛（包括愛國）也是他的詩歌的內容之一。
印度和孟加拉國的國歌都是使用泰戈爾的詩歌。維爾弗德·歐文和威廉·勃特勒·葉芝被他的詩深深感動，在葉芝的鼓勵下，泰戈爾親自將他的《吉檀枷利》（意即“獻詩”）譯成英語，1913年，他為此獲得了諾貝爾文學奬。但後來他與這個運動疏遠了。為了抗議1919年札連瓦拉園慘案，他拒絶了英國國王授予的騎士頭銜，他是第一個拒絶英王授予的榮譽的人。
他反對英國在印度建立起來的教育制度，反對這種“人為”的、完全服從的、死背書、不與大自然接觸的學校。為此他在他的故鄉建立了一個按他的設想設計的學校，這是維斯瓦－巴拉蒂大學的前身。
在他的詩歌中，泰戈爾也表達出了他對戰爭的絶望和悲痛，但他的和平希望沒有任何政治因素，他希望所有的人可以生活在一個完美的和平的世界中。
泰戈爾做過多次旅行，這使他瞭解到許多不同的文化以及它們之間的區別。他對東方和西方文化的描寫至今為止是這類描述中最細膩的之一。
泰戈爾生平
拉賓德拉納特·泰戈爾印度著名詩人、作傢、藝術傢、小說傢、思想傢和社會活動傢。生於加爾各答市的一個富有哲學和文學藝術修養家庭，8歲就寫詩，並展露出非凡的天才，13歲即能創作長詩和頌歌體詩集。1878年赴英國留學，1880年回國專門從事文學活動。1884至1911年擔任梵社秘書，20年代創辦國際大學。1941年寫作控訴英國殖民統治和相信祖國必將獲得獨立解放的著名遺言《文明的危機》。泰戈爾是具有巨大世界影響的作傢。他共寫了50多部詩集，被稱為"詩聖"。寫了12部中長篇小說，100多篇短篇小說，20多部劇本及大量文學、哲學、政治論著，並創作了1500多幅畫，諸寫了難以統計的衆多歌麯。文、史、哲、藝、 政、經範疇幾乎無所不包，無所不精。他的作品反映了印度人民在帝國主義和封建種姓制度壓迫下要求改變自己命運的強烈願望，描寫了他們不屈不撓的反抗鬥爭，充滿了鮮明的愛國主義和民主主義精神，同時又富有民族風格和民族特色， 具有很高藝術價值，深受人民群衆喜愛。其重要詩作有詩集《故事詩集》（1900）、《吉檀迦利》（1910）、《新月集》 （1913）、《飛鳥集》（1916）、《邊緣集》（1938）、《生辰集》（1941）；重要小說有短篇《還債》（1891）、 《棄絶》（1893）、《素芭》（1893）、《人是活着，還是死了？》（1892）、《摩訶摩耶》（1892）、《太陽與烏雲》 （1894），中篇《四個人》（1916），長篇《沉船》（1906）、《戈拉》（1910）、《家庭與世界》（1916）、《兩姐妹》（1932）；重要劇作有《頑固堡壘》（1911）、《摩剋多塔拉》（1925）、《人紅夾竹桃》（1926）；重要散文有 《死亡的貿易》（1881）、《中國的談話》（1924）、《俄羅斯書簡》（1931）等。他的作品早在1915年時介紹到中國，現已出版了10捲本的中文《泰戈爾作品》。
1861年5月7日，羅賓德拉納特·泰戈爾出生於印度加爾各答一個富有的貴族家庭。他的父親戴賓德納特·泰戈爾是聞名的哲學家和社會活動傢。哥哥、姐姐也都是社會名流。泰戈爾在這樣一個文壇世傢環境的薫陶下，8歲開始寫詩，12歲開始寫劇本，15歲發表了第一首長詩《野花》，17歲發表了敘事詩《詩人的故事》。才華橫溢的泰戈爾從小就走上了文學創作的道路。1886年，他發表《新月集》，成為印度大中小學必選的文學教材。這期間，他還撰寫了許多抨擊美國殖民統治政論文章。
1901年，泰戈爾在聖地尼剋坦創辦了一所從事兒童教育實驗的學校。這所學校在1912年發展成為亞洲文化交流的國際大學。
1905年，泰戈爾投身於民族獨立運動，創作了《洪水》等愛國歌麯。《人民的意志》被定為今日印度的國歌。1910年，泰戈爾發表長篇小說《戈拉》。1916年，發表長篇小說《家庭和世界》，熱情歌頌爭取民族獨立的愛國主義精神。1912年，泰戈爾以抒情詩集《吉檀迦利》獲諾貝爾文學奬金。1913年發表為人們所熟知的《飛鳥集》和《園丁集》。1924年曾來過中國，泰戈爾回國後，撰寫了許多文章，表達了對中國人民的友好情誼。
泰戈爾的一生是在印度處於英國殖民統治的年代中度過的。祖國的淪亡、民族的屈辱、殖民地人民的悲慘生活，都深深地烙印在泰戈爾的心靈深處，愛國主義的思想一開始就在他的作品中強烈地表現出來。他雖然出身於富貴家庭、生活在矛盾錯綜復雜的社會裏，但他的愛憎是分明的，創作思想是明確的，始終跟上了時代的步伐。他曾在民族獨立運動高潮時，寫信給英國總督表示抗議殖民統治，並高唱自己寫的愛國詩歌領導示威遊行。他還曾堅决拋棄英國政府所授予的爵位和特權。印度人民尊崇他、熱愛他，稱他為詩聖、印度的良心和印度的靈魂。
泰戈爾不是個狹隘的愛國主義者。他對於處在帝國主義侵略和壓迫下的各國人民一貫寄予深切的同情，並給予有力的支持。20世紀20年代，泰戈爾曾多次出國訪問，並與世界各國文化名人一起組織反戰的和平團體。30年代，當德、意、日法西斯發動侵略戰爭的時候，泰戈爾拍案而起，嚮全世界大聲疾呼：“在我離去之前，我嚮每一個家庭呼籲——準備戰鬥吧，反抗那披着人皮的野獸。”這位舉世聞名、多才多藝的作傢，在漫長的六十多年創作生涯裏，共寫了五十多部詩集，12部中長篇小說，一百餘篇短篇小說，二百多個劇本和許多有關文學、哲學、政治的論文以及回憶錄、遊記、書簡等。其中1921年問世的著名詩集《吉檀迦利》，使泰戈爾獲得了諾貝爾文學奬。《故事詩》和《兩畝地》是印度人民喜聞樂見、廣為傳誦的不朽詩篇。膾炙人口的《喀布爾人》、《素芭》和《摩訶摩耶》均為世界短篇小說的傑作。《贖罪》、《頑固堡壘》、《紅夾竹桃》等都是針對當時印度社會現實予以無情揭露和鞭笞的著名戲劇劇本。
泰戈爾不僅是一位造詣很深的作傢、詩人，還是一位頗有成就的作麯傢和畫傢。他一生共創作了二千餘首激動人心、優美動聽的歌麯。其中，他在印度民族解放運動高漲時期創作的不少熱情洋溢的愛國歌麯，成了鼓舞印度人民同殖民主義統治進行鬥爭的有力武器。《人民的意志》這首歌，於1950年被定為印度國歌。泰戈爾70高齡時學習作畫，繪製的1500幀畫，曾作為藝術珍品在世界許多有名的地方展出。
1941年，泰戈爾與世長逝，享年81歲。
泰戈爾（1861～1941）
Tagore，Rabindranath
印度詩人，作傢，藝術傢，社會活動傢。是嚮西方介紹印度文化和把西方文化介紹到印度的很有影響的人物。 生平 1861年5月7日生於西孟加拉邦加爾各答市，1941年8月7日卒於同地。家庭屬於商人兼地主，婆羅門種姓。祖父德瓦爾格納特·泰戈爾和父親戴本德拉納特·泰戈爾都是社會活動傢，支持社會改革。泰戈爾進過東方學院、師範學校和孟加拉學院，但沒有完成正規學習。他的知識得自父兄和家庭教師的耳提面命以及自己的努力者為多。他從13歲開始詩歌創作 ，14歲發表愛國詩篇《獻給印度教徒廟會》。1878年，他遵父兄意願赴英國留學，最初學習法律，後轉入倫敦大學學習英國文學，研究西方音樂。1880年回國，專事文學創作。1884年，離開城市到鄉村去管理祖傳田産。1901年，在孟加拉博爾普爾附近的聖地尼剋坦創辦學校，這所學校於1921年發展成為交流亞洲文化的國際大學。1905年後民族解放運動進入高潮，孟加拉和全印度人民都反對孟加拉分割的决定，形成轟轟烈烈反帝愛國運動。泰戈爾去加爾各答投身運動，義憤填膺，寫出大量愛國詩篇。但不久同運動其他領袖發生意見分歧，他不贊成群衆焚燒英國貨物、辱駡英國人的“直接行動”，而主張多做“建設性”工作，如到農村去發展工業、消滅貧睏愚昧等。他於1907年退出運動回聖地尼剋坦，過隱居生活，埋頭創作。1913年，他因英文版《吉檀迦利》（Gitanjaei，即《牲之頌》，1911年出版）榮獲諾貝爾文學奬，從此聞名世界文壇。加爾各答大學授予他博士學位。英國政府封他為爵士。第一次世界大戰爆發後，他先後10餘次遠涉重洋，訪問幾十個國傢和地區，傳播和平友誼，從事文化交流。1919年，發生阿姆利則慘案，英國軍隊開槍打死1000多印度平民，泰戈爾聲明放棄爵士稱號，以示抗議。1930年，他訪問蘇聯，寫有《俄國書簡》。他譴責意大利法西斯侵略阿比西尼亞（埃塞俄比亞）。支持西班牙共和國政府反對法西斯頭子佛朗哥。第二次世界大戰爆發後，他寫文章斥責希特勒的不義行徑。他始終關心世界政治和人民命運，支持人類的正義事業。
泰戈爾的創作
一. 主要作品
在長達近70年的創作活動中，泰戈爾共寫了50多部詩集，12部中長篇小說，100餘篇短篇小說，20多部劇本，大量關於文學、哲學、政治方面的論著，還創作了1500餘幅畫和2000餘首歌麯，其中1首為印度國歌。
13歲以後 ，泰戈爾發表了長詩《野花》、《詩人的故事》等，1881～1885年，出版抒情詩集《暮歌》、《晨歌》、《畫與歌》，還有戲劇和長篇小說。戲劇和小說多取材於史詩和往世書，詩歌富於浪漫主義色彩。1886年，詩集《剛與柔》出版，標志着他在創作道路上進入面嚮人生與現實生活的時期。詩集《心中的嚮往》是他第一部成熟的作品，他的獨特風格開始形成。這一時期還寫了劇本《國王與王後》和《犧牲》，反對恢復婆羅門祭司的特權和落後習俗。19世紀90年代是泰戈爾創作的旺盛時期。從1891年起，在他主編的《薩塔納》雜志上，發表《摩訶摩耶》等60多篇短篇小說，主要是反對封建壓迫，揭露現實生活中不合理現象。他發表了《金帆船》、《繽紛集》、《收穫集》、《夢幻集》、《剎那集》5 部抒情詩集，1部哲理短詩《微思集》和1部《故事詩集》。收入《繽紛集》的敘事詩《兩畝地》是作者民主主義思想的最高表現。從《剎那集》起，他開始用孟加拉口語寫詩。他的第二部英譯詩集《園丁集》裏的詩大多選自這一時期作品。
20世紀初泰戈爾遭遇到個人生活的不幸，喪偶、喪女、喪父的悲痛與傷感在詩集《回憶》、《兒童》和《渡船》中有真實記錄。他另有兩部長篇小說《小沙子》和《沉船》。1910年，長篇小說《戈拉》發表，它反映了印度社會生活中的復雜現象，塑造了爭取民族自由解放的戰士形象；歌頌了新印度教徒愛國主義熱情和對祖國必獲自由的信心，同時也批判他們維護舊傳統的思想；對梵社某些人的教條主義、崇洋媚外也予以鞭撻 。這期間還寫了象徵劇《國王》和《郵局》及諷刺劇《頑固堡壘》。1910年，孟加拉文詩集《吉檀迦利》出版 ，後泰戈爾旅居倫敦時把《吉檀迦利》、《渡船》和《奉獻集》裏的部分詩作譯成英文，1913年《吉檀迦利》英譯本出版，泰戈爾成為亞洲第一個獲諾貝爾文學奬的作傢。他進入另一創作高潮，發表詩歌《歌之花環》、《頌歌》、《白鶴》、《逃避》，中長篇小說《四個人》與《家庭與世界》。20世紀20 年代泰戈爾仍堅持寫作，發表劇本《摩剋多塔拉》、《紅夾竹桃》，長篇小說《糾紛》、《最後的詩篇》及一些詩作。30年代他又陸續出版長篇小說《兩姐妹》、《花圃》、《四章》；戲劇《時代的車輪》、《紙牌王國》 ；詩集《再一次》、《邊緣集》和政治抒情詩《禮佛》等。1941年4月 ，他寫下最後遺言、有名的《文明的危機》，對英國殖民統治進行控訴，表達了對民族獨立的堅定信念。
2.思想發展與藝術成就
泰戈爾生逢急劇變革的時代，受到印度傳統哲學思想和西方哲學思想的影響。但他世界觀最基本最核心部分還是印度傳統的泛神論思想 ，即“梵我合一”。在《繽紛集》中，他第一次提出“生命之神”觀念。他對神的虔誠是和對生活、國傢與人民的愛融合在一起的。但這使他的詩歌也蒙上了濃厚的神秘主義色彩。另外，他提倡東方的精神文明，但又不抹煞西方的物質文明。這些都使他的思想中充滿了矛盾而表現在創作上。綜觀泰戈爾一生思想和創作發展 ，可大體分3個階段：①幼年直至1910年前後，他積極參加反英政治活動，歌頌民族英雄，宣揚愛國主義，提倡印度民族大團结。②隱居生活直至1919年再次積極參加民族運動，愛國主義激情稍有消退，政治內容強的詩歌被帶有神秘意味的詩歌所取代，也受了西方象徵主義、唯美主義詩歌的影響，宣揚的是愛與和諧。③從1919年阿姆利則慘案開始直至逝世，他又開始關心政治，積極投入民族解放鬥爭，作品的內容又充滿了政治激情，視野也開闊了，對世界和人類都十分關心 。可以說 ，泰戈爾一生的創作既有“菩薩慈眉”，也有“金剛怒目”。他的詩歌受印度古典文學、西方詩歌和孟加拉民間抒情詩歌的影響，多為不押韻、不雕琢的自由詩和散文詩；他的小說受西方小說的影響，又有創新，特別是把詩情畫意融入其中，形成獨特風格。
羅賓德拉納特•泰戈爾（Rabindranath Tagore，1861-1941）印度孟加拉語詩人、作傢、藝術傢、社會活動傢。生於加爾各答市一個具有深厚文化教養的家庭，父親是著名的宗教改革傢和社會活動傢，六個哥哥也均獻身於社會改革和文藝復興運動。泰戈爾自幼厭惡正規學校的教育，靠家庭教育和刻苦自學度過少年時代，1878年去英國學法律，後轉入倫敦大學攻讀英國文學，研究西方音樂。
泰戈爾童年時代即嶄露詩才，他的愛國詩篇《給印度教徒廟會》（1875）發表時，年僅14歲。1880年，19歲的泰戈爾便成為職業作傢。1881至1885年，他出版了抒情詩集《暮歌》（1882）、《晨歌》（1883），還有戲劇和小說等作品。這些早期傷品的特點是夢幻多於現實，富於浪漫主義色彩。
90年代是泰戈爾創作的旺盛期，詩集《心中的嚮往》（1890）是他的第一部成熟作品，著名詩篇《兩畝地》（1894）的發表，標志着泰戈爾從宗教神秘主義走嚮深刻的人道主義。這一時期的詩作還有《金帆船》（1894）、《繽紛集》（1896）第5部抒情詩集和一部《故事詩集》（1900）。此外，他還創作了60多篇短篇小說，其中的《素芭》（1893）、《摩訶摩耶》（1892）、《最後活着，還是死了？》（1892）等被列入世界優秀短篇小說傑作之林。
1901年，泰戈爾為改造社會創辦了一所學校，從事兒童教育實驗。1912年，這所學校成為亞洲文化交流的國際大學。由於英國在孟加拉推行分裂政策，1905年印度掀起民族解放運動的第一個高潮，泰戈爾積極投身於運動並創作了許多愛國詩篇。這一時期是他創作的最輝煌時期。他出版了8部孟加拉文詩集和8部英文詩集，其中《吉檀迦利》為詩人贏得世界性聲譽。這一時期重要的詩集還有《園丁集》（1913）、《新月集》（1915）、《飛鳥集》（1916）等。1910年，泰戈爾又發表了史詩性長篇小說《戈拉》和象徵劇《國王》等。
1919年，印度掀起第二次民族解放運動高潮，為尋求民族解放道路，他走遍五大洲，發表了許多著名演講。這時期突出成就是政治抒情詩，分別收在《非洲集》（1937）、《邊沿集》（1938）、《生辰集》（1941）等作品中。
泰戈爾一生共創作了50多部詩集，12部中、長篇小說，100餘篇短篇小說，20餘種戲劇，還有大量有關文學、哲學、政治的論著和遊記、書簡等。此外，他還是位造詣頗深的音樂傢和畫傢，曾創作2000餘首歌麯和1500餘幀畫，其中歌麯《人民的意志》已被定為印度國歌。
在60餘年的藝術生涯中，他繼承了古典和民間文學的優秀傳統，吸收了歐洲浪漫主義與現實主義文學的豐富營養，在創作上達到爐火純青的地步，取得了輝煌成就，成為一代文化巨人。1913年，“由於他那至為敏銳、清新與優美的詩；這詩出之以高超的技巧，並由他自己用英文表達出來，使他那充滿詩意的思想業已為西方文學的一部分”，獲諾貝爾文學奬。英國政府封他為爵士。
1941年4月，這位曠世奇才，印度近代文學的奠基人寫下最後的遺言《文明的危機》。同年8月7日，泰戈爾於加爾各答祖宅去世。
【代表作】
詩集：詩集《暮歌》、《晨歌》、《心中的嚮往》、《兩畝地》、《金帆船》、《繽紛集》、《故事詩集》、《素芭》、《摩訶摩耶》、《最後活着，還是死了？》等等
20世紀初期的印度，是英國的殖民地。政治上遭受壓迫，經濟上受到剝削，使這個古老國傢的人民陷入貧窮、愚昧之中。為了喚醒這個沉睡的巨人，兩位偉人應運而生了。一位是民族解放運動的領袖“聖雄”甘地，另外一位就是印度近代史上最偉大的文化巨匠羅賓德拉納特•泰戈爾（1861-1941）。 泰戈爾多才多藝，才華超人。既是作品浩繁的文學藝術大師、學識淵博的哲人、成就卓著的社會活動傢，也是銳意革新的教育傢。他一生所有的貢獻，不但在印度歷史上具有着劃時代的意義，而在國際上也産生了巨大影響。 泰戈爾在印度文化的各個方面都産生了廣泛而深遠的影響。而他最突出的天才的表現，恐怕就是他驚人的創作量了。他12歲開始寫詩，在60餘年的筆耕生涯中，創作了大量作品，其中有詩歌上千首，歌詞1200餘首，並為其中大多數歌詞譜了麯； 中長篇小說12部，短篇小說200多篇，戲劇38部，還有許多有關哲學、文學、政治的論文及回憶錄、書簡、遊記等；此外還創作了2700餘幅畫。他給印度和世界留下了一筆異常豐富的文化遺産。
1913年，“由於他那至為敏銳、清新與優美的詩篇；這些詩不但具有高超的技巧，並且由他自己用英文表達出來，便使他那充滿詩意的思想成為西方文學的一部分”，泰戈爾被瑞典文學院授予該處度諾貝爾文學奬這一最高榮譽，成為第一個獲得這項殊榮的亞洲作傢。漫長的55年後，日本的川端康成長又一次奪取這一桂冠。泰戈爾因此而蜚聲世界。他的詩歌體裁和題材豐富多彩，清新雋永；小說格調新穎、感染力強；戲劇種類繁多，富於哲理意味；歌麯或哀婉纏綿、或威武雄壯，不拘一格。在人們的印象中，泰戈爾是以偉大的“歌手與哲人”的雙重身份出現的。讓我們把目光轉嚮西孟加拉的加爾各答，1861年5月7日，羅賓德拉納特誕生在那裏。泰戈爾世傢和拉比的童年泰戈爾家庭原姓塔剋爾（孟加拉人的尊稱，意為“聖”），泰戈爾是它的英文變稱。羅賓德拉納特的祖父德瓦卡納特“王子”。同時他也是一位思想傢和文化名流，當時許多進步人士的改革運動都得到他有力的支持。 這位“王子”的繼承人德本德拉納特不同於父親的熱衷社交，他性格內省慎思，潛心於哲學和宗教著作的研究。他兼具三種不同的氣質：對宗教的篤信，對藝術的敏感，對實際工作的精明善斷。對名氣更大的兒子，他的影響無疑是深遠的。 他的溫文爾雅、尊貴大方， 博得了“瑪哈希”（意為“大聖人”）的美稱。 德本德拉納特有個龐大的家庭。他擁有15個子女。女兒婚後，女婿也長住於他傢的。此外，還有一些親戚和衆多僕從。子女勻是在充分的自由和嚴格的傢教、對宗教的虔敬與對美妙生活的享受緊密結合的環境中成長起來的。這個家庭繼承了父親所熱愛的印度文化傳統，又深受西方文化影響，常舉行哲學和宗教討論會、詩歌朗誦會，經常演戲， 還有不時安排的音樂會。 著名詩人、演員、音樂傢和學者常常成為座上客。“瑪哈希”讓子女們自由發展各自的特長，充分發表各自的見解而不加限製，態度極開明。羅賓德拉特就降生在這樣一個環境中，在他的性格形成時期，從這個環境中飽吸了智慧和美的養份，“印度文藝復興的急流潮涌從他的四周澎湃而過”。 由於是父母最小的兒子，被大傢昵稱為“拉比”的羅賓德拉納特成為每個家庭成員鐘愛的對象。但他並不受互溺愛，恰恰相反，這個家庭的生活方式十分簡樸。鞋子和襪子要在兒女們長到10歲時纔按宗教法規批準穿用。拉比在中爾答進過4所學校， 但他都不喜歡。他厭惡那種無視個性的教育制度，厭惡遠離自然的、牢籠般的教室，對教師的敵意態度和野蠻體罰更不能容忍。他喜歡的是校外的花園、池塘、春天和白雲。後來他還進過東方學院、師範學院和在孟加拉學院讀書，但都沒有完成學業。他後來致力於教育革新，與此不無關係。 相形之下，他的家庭給他的熏陶是極明顯的。拉比豐富的歷史、文學和科學知識都源自於父兄。泰戈爾傢族對印度民族解放運動和復興孟加鼕天文藝具有很大貢獻。長史德威金德拉納特才華出衆，是詩人和哲學家，曾嚮印度介紹西方哲學。另一位史長薩迪延德拉納特是進入英屬印度行政機構的第一個印度人，懂多種語言，翻譯出版了許多梵文和孟加拉文古典著作。姐姐斯瓦納庫瑪麗是第一位用孟加拉文寫小說的女作傢。五哥喬蒂林德拉納特成為一位音樂傢、戲劇傢、詩人和新聞記者。他長拉比13歲，對拉比的才幹十分賞識並予以鼓勵，還通過創辦文學雜志《婆羅蒂月刊》直接引導拉比走上文壇。 另外，喬蒂林德拉納特的妻子卡丹巴麗•黛薇，是一位豐姿綽約、優雅寬厚的女性。她在拉比身上傾註了深深的愛，給他佈置出一個精美優雅的環境。她幾乎成了拉比理想中的人物，兩人之間有一種羅曼蒂剋的眷戀。拉比就在這樣的家庭氛圍裏度過一生中最愉快安適的日子。
印度著名詩人、作傢、藝術傢和社會活動傢，生於加爾各答市的一個富有哲學和文學藝術修養家庭，13歲即能創作長詩和頌歌體詩集。曾赴英國學習文學和音樂，十餘次周遊列國，與羅曼•羅蘭、愛因斯坦等大批世界名人多有交往，畢生致力於東西文明的交流和協調。泰戈爾以詩人著稱，創作了《吉檀迦利》等50多部詩集，被稱為“詩聖”。他又是著名的小說傢、劇作傢、作麯傢和畫傢，先後完成12部中長篇小說，100多篇短篇小說，20多部劇本，1500多幅畫和2000多首歌麯。天才的泰戈爾還是一位哲學家、教育傢和社會活動傢。1913年，泰戈爾以詩歌集《吉檀迦利》榮獲諾貝爾文學奬。
泰戈爾是印度近代和現代最偉大的作傢,詩人,小說傢,戲劇傢,美術傢,音樂傢.1913年以英文散文詩集《吉檀迦利》獲諾貝爾文學奬。我常常想，泰戈爾就像那天際的明星。“在那裏，心是無畏的，頭也擡的高昂；在那裏，智識是自由的；……在那裏，話是從真理的深處說出；……在那裏，心靈是受你的指引，走嚮那不斷放寬的思想與行為”（吉檀迦利）這就是泰戈爾，像那啓明星帶引我們走嚮黎明。
泰戈爾的傢世
附:【傢族】
泰戈爾
祖父：德瓦爾伽納塔，生於一七九四年。機靈、勇敢、瀟灑、富有天才，一個商業“王子”，奢侈豪華。
父親：代溫德拉納特，在社會上被稱為“大仙”，由於簡樸純潔。生於一八一七年，哲學家，社會改革
者。
母親：夏勒達黛維，具有忍耐等優秀品質和擅長操持傢務的人，使別人成為偉大人物而自己衹留下半絲印記。
大哥：德維瓊德拉納特，大學者、詩人、音樂傢、哲學家和數學家，長詩《夢遊》能與斯賓塞的《仙後》妣美，被稱為孟加拉的不朽著作。創造了孟加拉速記體，最早把鋼琴引入孟加拉音樂。他詩歌創作裏的獨特而勇敢的實驗，在羅賓德拉納特泰戈爾心靈發展上烙下了深刻的印痕。
二哥：薩特因德拉納特，梵文學家，最早把馬拉提虔誠詩介紹給孟加拉讀者，在羅賓德拉納特發展上所烙下的影響是深刻、細緻和永的。他的妻子是第一個打破印度婦女傳統生活方式的人，女兒英迪拉•戴維是羅賓德拉納特•泰戈爾音樂創作的權威評論傢。
三哥：海明德拉納特，早逝，是教育羅賓德拉納特用祖國語言的人。
四哥：巴楞德拉納特，早逝，孟加拉文壇上贏得了不可磨滅地位的作傢。
五哥：喬迪楞德拉納特，那個時代最有天才的人，一位富有激情的音樂傢、詩人、劇作傢和藝術傢，在羅賓德拉納特的理智和詩才上，留下了影響。
大姐：蘇達米妮，羅賓德拉納特的撫養人。
五姐：斯瓦爾納庫馬莉，富有才幹的音樂傢和女作傢，孟加拉第一位女長篇小說傢。
其他姐姐：希楞默依•黛維作為社會服務者而聞名於世。
薩勒拉•黛維女作傢、音樂傢、民族獨立運動的積極參加者。
泰戈爾名句
泰戈爾一生的創作詩歌受印度古典文學、西方詩歌和孟加拉民間抒情詩歌的影響，多為不押韻、不雕琢的自由詩和散文詩；他的小說受西方小說的影響，又有創新，特別是把詩情畫意融入其中，形成獨特風格。
名句：
有一次，我們夢見大傢都是不相識的。我們醒了，卻知道我們原是相親相愛的。
Once we dreamt that we were strangers. We wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
我的心是曠野的鳥，在你的眼睛裏找到了天空。
My heart, the bird of the wilderness, has found its sky in your eyes.
是大地的淚點，使她的微笑保持着青春不謝。
It is the tears of the earth that keep her smiles in bloom.
如果你因失去了太陽而流淚，那麽你也將失去群星了。
If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
你看不見你自己，你所看見的衹是你的影子。
What you are you do not see, what you see is your shadow.
瀑布歌唱道："我得到自由時便有了歌聲了。"
The waterfall sing, "I find my song, when I find my freedom."
你微微地笑着，不同我說什麽話。而我覺得，為了這個，我已等待得久了。
You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that for this I had been waiting long.
人不能在他的歷史中表現出他自己，他在歷史中奮鬥着露出頭角。
Man does not reveal himself in his history, he struggles up through it.
我們如海鷗之與波濤相遇似地，遇見了，走近了。海鷗飛去，波濤滾滾地流開，我們也分別了。
Like the meeting of the seagulls and the waves we meet and come near.The seagulls fly off, the waves roll away and we depart.
當我們是大為謙卑的時候，便是我們最接近偉大的時候。
We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.
决不要害怕剎那－－永恆之聲這樣唱着。
Never be afraid of the moments--thus sings the voice of the everlasting.
"完全"為了對"不全"的愛，把自己裝飾得美麗。
The perfect decks itself in beauty for the love of the Imperfect.
錯誤經不起失敗，但是真理卻不怕失敗。
Wrong cannot afford defeat but Right can.
這寡獨的黃昏，幕着霧與雨，我在我的心的孤寂裏，感覺到它的嘆息。
In my solitude of heart I feel the sigh of this widowed evening veiled with mist and rain.
我們把世界看錯了，反說它欺騙我們。
We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.
人對他自己建築起堤防來。
Man barricades against himself.
使生如夏花之絢爛，死如秋葉之靜美。
Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves.
我想起了浮泛在生與愛與死的川流上的許多別的時代，以及這些時代之被遺忘，我便感覺到離開塵世的自由了。
I think of other ages that floated upon the stream of life and love and death and are forgotten, and I feel thefreedom of passing away.
衹管走過去，不必逗留着采了花朵來保存，因為一路上花朵自會繼續開放的。
Do not linger to gather flowers to keep them, but walk on,for flowers will keep themselves blooming all your way.
思想掠過我的心上，如一群野鴨飛過天空。我聽見它們鼓翼之聲了。
Thoughts pass in my mind like flocks of lucks in the sky.I hear the voice of their wings.
"誰如命運似的催着我嚮前走呢？""那是我自己，在身背後大跨步走着。"
Who drives me forward like fate？The Myself striding on my back.
我們的欲望把彩虹的顔色藉給那衹不過是雲霧的人生。
Our desire lends the colours of the rainbow to the mere mists and vapours of life.
Stray birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away. And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sigh.
夏天的飛鳥，飛到我窗前唱歌，又飛去了。 秋天的黃葉，他們沒有什麼可唱的，衹是嘆息一聲，飛落在那裏。
It is the tears of the earth that keep her smiles in bloom.
使大地保持著青春不謝的，是大地的熱淚。
The mighty desert is burning for the love of a blade of grass who shakes her head and laughs and flies away.
偉大的沙漠為了緑葉的愛而燃燒，而她搖搖頭、笑著、飛走了。
The sands in you way beg for your song and your movement,dancing water.Will you carry the burden of their lameness?
跳著舞的流水啊！當你途中的泥沙為你的歌聲和流動哀求時， 你可願意擔起他們跛足的重擔？
Sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart like the evening among the silent trees.
憂愁在我心中瀋寂平靜，正如黃昏在寂靜的林中。
I cannot choose the best. The best chooses me.
我不能選擇那最好的，是那最好的選擇了我。
They throw their shadows before them who carry their lantern on their back.
把燈籠背在背上的人，有黑影遮住前路。
Rest belongs to the work as the eyelids to the eyes.
休息隸屬於工作，正如眼瞼隸屬於眼睛。
The waterfall sings, '' I find my song, when I find my freedom.''
瀑布歌道：「當我得到自由時，便有了歌聲。」
the stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies.
群星不會因為像螢火蟲而怯於出現。
We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.
當我們極謙卑時，則幾近於偉大。
The sparrow is sorry for the peacock at the burden of its tail.
麻雀因孔雀馱著翎尾而替它擔憂。
The Perfect decks itself in beauty for the love of the Imperfect.
「完全」為了愛「不完全」，把自己裝飾得更美。
“I give my whole water in joy,“ sings the waterfall, '' though little of it is enough for the thirsty.''
瀑布歌唱著：「雖然渴者衹需少許水便足夠，我卻樂意給與我的全部」
The woodcutter's axe begged for its handle from tree, the tree gave it.
樵夫的斧頭嚮樹要柄，樹便給了它。
We read the world wrong and say that it deceives us.
我們看錯了世界，卻說世界欺騙了我們。
He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open.
想要行善的人在門外敲著門；愛人的，看見門是敞開的。
The scabbard is content to be dull when it protects the keenness of the word.
劍鞘保護劍的鋒利，自己卻滿足於它自己的遲鈍。
The cloud stood humbly in a corner of the sky, The morning crowned it with splendour.
白雲謙卑地站在天邊，晨光給它披上壯麗的光彩。
The dust receives insult and in return offers her flowers.
塵土承受屈辱，卻以鮮花來回報。
God is ashamed when the prosperous boasts of his special favour.
當富貴利達的人誇說他得到上帝的恩惠時，上帝卻羞了。
Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water sings the pebbles into perfection.
不是錘的敲打，乃是水的載歌載舞，使鵝卵石臻於完美。
God's great power is in the gentle breeze, not in the storm.
上帝的大能在柔和的微風中，不在狂風暴雨中。
By plucking her petals you do not gather the beauty of the flower.
采擷花瓣得不著花的美麗。
The great walks with the small without fear. The middling keeps aloof.
大的不怕與小的同遊，居中的卻遠避之。
'' The learned say that your lights will one day be no more.'' said the firefly to the stars.The stars made no answer.
螢火蟲對群星說：「學者說你的光有一天會熄滅。」群星不回答它。
The pet dog suspects the universe for scheming to take its place.
小狗懷疑大宇宙陰謀篡奪它的位置。
God loves man's lamp-lights better than his own great stars.
上帝喜愛
人間的燈光甚於他自己的大星。
Praise shames me, for I secretly beg for it.
榮譽羞著我，因為我暗地裏追求著它。
Life has become richer by the love that has been lost.
生命因為失去愛情而更豐盛。
Dark clouds becomes heaven's flowers when kissed by light.
黑雲受到光的接吻時，就變成了天上的花朵。
The little flower lies in the dust. It sought the path of the butterfly.
小花睡在塵土裏，它尋求蝴蝶走的路。
Let this be my last word, that I trust in thy love.
我相信你的愛」讓這句話作為我最後的話。
I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.
我愛你，不是因為你是一個怎樣的人，而是因為我喜歡與你在一起時的感覺。
No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won‘t make you cry.
沒有人值得你流淚，值得讓你這麽做的人不會讓你哭泣。
The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can‘t have them.
失去某人，最糟糕的莫過於，他近在身旁，卻猶如遠在天邊。
Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.
縱然傷心，也不要愁眉不展，因為你不知是誰會愛上你的笑容。
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
對於世界而言，你是一個人；但是對於某個人，你是他的整個世界。
Don‘t waste your time on a man/woman, who isn‘t willing to waste their time on you.
不要為那些不願在你身上花費時間的人而浪費你的時間。
Just because someone doesn‘t love you the way you want them to, doesn‘t mean they don‘t love you with all they have.
愛你的人如果沒有按你所希望的方式來愛你，那並不代表他們沒有全心全意地愛你。
Don‘t try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.
不要着急，最好的總會在最不經意的時候出現。
Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.
在遇到夢中人之前，上天也許會安排我們先遇到別的人；在我們終於遇見心儀的人時，便應當心存感激。
Don‘t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.
不要因為結束而哭泣，微笑吧，為你的曾經擁有。
上帝對人說道：“我醫治你，所以要傷害你；我愛你，所以要懲罰你。”
天空中沒有翅膀的痕跡，但我已飛過。
當你把所有的錯誤都關在門外，真理也就被拒絶了。
錯誤經不起失敗，但是真理卻不怕失敗。
離我們最近的地方，路程卻最遙遠。我們最謙卑時，纔最接近偉大。
愛就是充實了的生命，正如盛滿了酒的酒杯。
月兒把她的光明遍照在天上，卻留着她的黑斑給她自己。
生命因為付出了愛，而更為富足。
.果實的事業是尊重的，花的事業是甜美的，但是讓我做葉的事業罷，葉是謙遜地專心地垂着緑蔭的。
埋在地下的樹根使樹枝産生果實，卻並不要求什幺報酬。
謝謝火焰給你光明，但是不要忘了那執燈的人，他是堅忍地站在黑暗當中呢。
在群星之中，有一顆星是指導着我的生命通過不可知的黑暗的。
我們把世界看錯了，反說世界欺騙我們。
小草呀，你的足步雖小，但是你擁有你足下的土地。
衹管走過去，不必逗留着去采了花朵來保存，因為一路上，花朵自會繼續開放的。
啊，美呀，在愛中找你自己吧，不要到你鏡子的諂諛中去找呀。
如果你把所有的錯誤都關在門外，那真理也要被關在門外了
詩歌散文
吉檀迦利 飛鳥集 新月集
隨想集 園丁集 采果集
黑牛集 再次集 葉盤集
遊思集 最後的星期集 愛者之貽
棄絶 塵埃集 抒情詩
渡口 吉莉芭拉 深夜
小說
時代畫捲 文苑瑰寶 女乞丐 河邊臺階的訴說
破裂 移交財産 小媳婦
一夜 活着還是死了 勝與敗
喀布爾人 素芭 莫哈瑪婭
報答 編輯 判决
一個古老的小故事 原來如此 筆記本
非法入內 烏雲和太陽 贖罪
法官 姐姐 打掉傲氣
過失 拜堂相見 難以避免的災禍
女鄰居 履行諾言 哈爾達爾一傢
海蒙蒂 女隱士 一個女人的信
訣別之夜 陌生女人 新郎與新娘
偏見 藝術傢 偷來的財寶
最後的奬賞 穆斯林的故事 沉船
相關文章
泰戈爾的文學聖殿 論泰戈爾的散文詩① 泰戈爾的詩
泰戈爾年表
1861年5月7日，出生。
1878年，赴英國留學，
1880年，回國專門從事文學活動。
1901年，在聖地尼剋坦創辦兒童教育實驗學校。
1884～1911年，擔任梵社秘書。
1924年，訪問中國。
1941年，寫作遺言《文明的危機》。
1941年8月7日，逝世。
泰戈爾與中國
泰戈爾與中國 泰戈爾一貫強調印中兩國人民團结友好合作的必要性。1881年，他寫了《死亡的貿易》一文，譴責英國嚮中國傾銷鴉片、毒害中國人民的罪行。1916年，他在日本發表談話，抨擊日本軍國主義侵略中國的行動。1924年，他訪問中國，回國發表了《在中國的談話》。1937年，日本帝國主義發動侵華戰爭以後，他屢次發表公開信、談話和詩篇，斥責日本帝國主義，同情和支持中國人民的正義鬥爭。中國作傢郭沫若、鄭振鐸、冰心、徐志摩等人早期的創作，大多受過他的影響。他的作品早在1915年就已介紹到中國。幾十年來出版的他的作品的中譯本和評介著作為數很多。1961年為紀念他的百歲誕辰，人民文學出版社出版了10捲本《泰戈爾作品集》。
1915年，陳獨秀在《青年雜志》（《新青年》）第2期上發表他譯的《贊歌》4首。作品中“信愛、童心、母愛” 的思想，博大仁慈的胸懷，獨具魅力的人格，贏得了無數中國讀者的敬仰。
泰戈爾是具有巨大世界影響的作傢。1924年，泰戈爾應孫中山先生之邀訪華，“泰戈爾熱”進入高潮。他在徐志摩家乡時，“觀者如堵，各校學生數百名齊奏歌樂，群嚮行禮，頗極一時之盛。”他會見了梁啓超、瀋鈞儒、梅蘭芳、梁漱溟、齊白石、溥儀等各界名流。1956年，周恩來總理回憶時說：“泰戈爾是對世界文學作出卓越貢獻的天才詩人……”他熏陶了一批中國最有才華的詩人和作傢，其中郭沫若、冰心受到的影響最深。郭沫若是中國新詩第一人，稱自己文學生涯的“第一階段是泰戈爾式的”。冰心是中國新文學女性作傢第一人，她早期的創作受到了泰戈爾的明顯影響，特別是詩集《繁星》和《春水》。她說：“我自己寫《繁星》和《春水》的時候，並不是在寫詩，衹是受了泰戈爾的《飛鳥集》的影響，把許多‘零碎的思想’，收集在一個集子裏而已。”郭沫若、冰心等人又以他們的作品，影響了一代又一代中國讀者。
泰戈爾是中國讀者心目中最具地位的外國作傢之一，能與其匹敵的大概衹有莎士比亞一人。現已出版了10捲本的中文《泰戈爾作品集》。
泰戈爾的北京之旅 (張寶申)
泰戈爾(1861－1941)是印度偉大的詩人、作傢和哲學家，他一生創作了五十多部詩集，十二部中、長篇小說，一百多篇短篇小說，二十多部劇作，還畫了一千五百多幅畫，作了幾百首歌麯，撰寫了大量的論文。1913年，他的詩集《吉檀迦利》榮獲了諾貝爾文學奬，是第一位獲得諾貝爾文學奬的亞洲人。泰戈爾的詩集《新月集》、《園丁集》、《飛鳥集》、《流螢集》等被大量介紹到中國，曾影響了我國幾代讀者。1924年4月12日至5月30日，泰戈爾應梁啓超、蔡元培以北京講學社的名義邀請，懷着對中國人民的深厚感情來華訪問，時間長達50多天。在泰戈爾來華之前，當時在廣州任非常大總統的孫中山先生，也嚮他發出熱情洋溢的邀請信:“……先生來華，如得親自相迎，當引為大幸……專此泰邀，希即能前來廣州為幸”。一踏上中國的領土，這位詩人就情不自禁地說:“朋友們，我不知道什麽緣故，到中國便像回到故鄉一樣，我始終感覺，印度是中國極其親近的親屬，中國和印度是極老而又極親愛的兄弟。”
1924年4月23日，泰戈爾乘火車抵達北京前門車站。梁啓超、蔡元培、鬍適、梁漱溟、辜鴻銘等前往車站迎接。在他時間長達一個月的北京之旅中，他到古老的法源寺去賞丁香，參加詩會；瀏覽了故宮，會見了末代皇帝溥儀；在北大、清華、北師大等高等學府發表了《中國與世界文明》、《文明與進步》、《真理》等多篇演說；會見各界知名人士……5月8日，適逢泰戈爾63歲壽辰，北京文化界人士趕排了他的名作話劇《齊德拉》，當天在東單協和禮堂裏演出，以此為他祝壽。鬍適主持大會。梁啓超代表京城各界人士緻以熱烈的賀辭。祝壽會的壓軸戲，是觀看用英語演出的《齊德拉》。劇中，林徽因飾主角公主齊德拉、徐志摩飾愛神瑪達那、林長民飾春神伐森塔。梁思成擔任舞臺布景設計。禮堂裏高朋滿座，盛況空前。泰戈爾和梅蘭芳坐在一起，他興奮地說:“在中國能看到自己寫的戲，我太高興了。可是，我更希望能觀賞到你演出的戲。”梅蘭芳當即答應請他看自己剛排的新戲《洛神》。
5月12日，泰戈爾在朋友們的陪同下，興致勃勃地來到昌平小湯山溫泉。湯泉沐浴，山野春色，給詩人留下了美好的印象。他說:“這裏溫暖的泉水滌淨了我身上的塵垢。在晨光的熹微中，看到豔麗的朝霞，蔚藍的天，默默地望着地上的緑草，曉風輕輕搖撼着醒過來的溪邊古柳，景色是使人留戀的。”
5月19日，在剛剛落成開幕的珠市口開明戲院，梅蘭芳專門演出了新排的神話京劇《洛神》招待泰戈爾。泰戈爾來劇場看演出，特意穿上了他創辦的印度國際大學的紅色大禮服。梅蘭芳記得很清楚:“那天，我從臺上看過去，衹見詩人端坐在包廂裏正中，戴絳色帽，着紅色長袍，銀須白發，望之如神仙中人。”5月20日，泰戈爾將赴太原。當日中午，梁啓超、李石曾、梅蘭芳、齊如山和馮玉祥將軍的代表李鳴鐘等，在豐澤園飯莊為他餞行。泰戈爾興致勃勃地談了他此次北京之旅的許多感受。他經過認真的思考，對梅蘭芳的《洛神》提出了很多建設性的意見。他認為，在表演和布景上，應再浪漫一些，舞臺色彩更豐富一些，突出神話劇的詩意……梅蘭芳虛心接受了他的建議，在布景和表演方面做了改動，取得了可喜的舞臺效果。當場，泰戈爾用孟加拉文寫了一首小詩題在紈扇上送給梅蘭芳:“親愛的，你用我不懂的語言的面紗，遮蓋着你的容顔；正像那遙望如同一脈縹緲的雲霞，被水霧籠罩着的峰巒。”
37年後的1961年，梅蘭芳寫了《追憶印度詩人泰戈爾》的一首詩，發表在5月13日的《光明日報》上，懷念這位印度友人。在序言中，梅蘭芳寫道:“1924年春，泰戈爾先生來遊中國，論交於北京，談藝甚歡。餘為之演《洛神》一劇，泰翁觀後，賦詩相贈，復以中國筆墨書之紈扇。日月不居，忽忽三十餘載矣。茲值詩人誕辰百年紀念，回憶泰翁熱愛中華，往往情見於詞，文采長存，詩以記之。”這一象徵中印友誼的詩扇，現保存在梅蘭芳故居紀念館裏。
泰戈爾的訪華，在中印文化交流史上，留下了光輝的一頁。文學家鄭振鐸在當時發表的《歡迎泰戈爾》一文中寫道:“我們所歡迎的乃是給愛與光與安慰與幸福於我們的人，乃是我們親愛的兄弟，我們的知識上與靈魂上的同路的旅伴。他的偉大是無所不在的！”作傢謝冰心也懷着崇敬之情寫道:“泰戈爾是我青年時代最愛慕的外國詩人，他是一個愛國者、哲人和詩人。他的詩中噴溢着他對於祖國的熱戀，對於婦女的同情和對於兒童的喜愛。有了強烈的愛就會有強烈的憎，當他們愛的一切受到侵犯的時候，他就會發出強烈的怒吼！他的愛和恨和海波一樣，蕩漾開去，遍及全人類！”對於中國人民的熱情，泰戈爾用親切而真摯的語言說:“我受到你們的熱烈的歡迎，大傢所以歡迎我，大概因為我代表印度人。有朋友送一顆圖章，上刻泰戈爾三個字，我對此事很感動……我這顆圖章上刻着中國名字，頭一個便是泰山的泰字，我覺得此後仿佛就有權利可以到中國人的心裏去瞭解他的生命，因為我的生命非與中國人的生命聯在一起不可了……”
泰戈爾在訪問中國時，曾經高瞻遠矚地說:“我相信，你們有一個偉大的將來。我相信，當你們國傢站起來，把自己的精神表達出來的時候，亞洲也將有一個偉大的將來。”
1956年，在泰戈爾訪華32年之後，周恩來總理訪問印度。在泰戈爾親手創辦的加爾各答國際大學接受名譽博士學位時，他非常動情地說:“來到這個學術中心，不能不令人想起這個大學的創辦人，印度的偉大愛國詩人泰戈爾。泰戈爾不僅是對世界文化做出了卓越貢獻的天才詩人，還是憎恨黑暗，爭取光明的偉大印度人民的傑出代表。中國人民對泰戈爾抱着深厚的感情。中國人民永遠不能忘記泰戈爾對他們的熱愛。中國人民也不能忘記泰戈爾對他們的艱苦的民族獨立鬥爭所給予的支持。至今，中國人民還以懷念的心情回憶着1924年泰戈爾對中國的訪問。”
泰戈爾
許多批評傢說，詩人是“人類的兒童”。因為他們都是天真的，善良。在現代的許多詩人中，泰戈爾（RabindranathTagore) 更是一個“孩子的天使”。他的詩正如這個天真
爛漫的天使的臉；看着他，就“能知道一切事物的意義”，就感得和平，感得安慰，並且知道真相愛。著“泰戈爾哲學”S.Radhakrishnan說：泰戈爾著作之流行，之能引起全世
界人們的興趣，一半在於他思想中高超的理想主義，一半在於他作品中的文學的莊嚴與美麗。泰戈爾是印度孟加拉(Bengal)地方的人。印度是一個“詩的國”。詩就是印度人是常
生活的一部分，在這個“詩之國”裏，産生了這個偉大的詩人泰戈爾自然是沒有什麽奇怪的。泰戈爾的文學活動，開始的極早。他在十四歲的時候，即開始寫劇本了，他的著作，
最初都是用孟加拉文寫的；凡是說孟加拉文的地方，沒有人不日日歌誦他的詩歌。後來他自己和他的朋友陸續譯了許多種成英文，詩集有“園丁集”、“新月集”、“采果集”“飛鳥集”、“吉檀迦利”、“愛者之禮物”、與“岐道”；劇本有：“犧牲及其他”、“郵局”、“暗室之王”、“春之循環”；論文集有：“生之實現”、“人格”、雜著有：我的回憶”、“餓石及其他”、“家庭與世界”等。 在孟加拉文裏，據印度人說：他的詩較英文寫的尤為美麗的是他是我們聖人中的第一人：不拒絶生命，而能說出生命之本身的，這就是我們所以愛
他的原因了。” 他有着大鬍子
Rabindranath Tagore (help·info)α[›] (Bengali: রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর,β[›] IPA: [ɾobin̪d̪ɾonat̪ʰ ʈʰakuɾ] (help·info)) (7 May 1861–7 August 1941),γ[›] also known by the sobriquet Gurudev,δ[›] was a Bengali poet, Brahmo religionist, visual artist, playwright, novelist, and composer whose works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.
A Pirali Brahmin (a ".. supposed stigma", ".. formed a party for degrading them", ".. orthodox kind relying on hearsay for their facts") from Calcutta, Bengal, Tagore first wrote poems at the age of eight. At the age of sixteen, he published his first substantial poetry under the pseudonym Bhanushingho ("Sun Lion") and wrote his first short stories and dramas in 1877. In later life Tagore protested strongly against the British Raj and gave his support to the Indian Independence Movement. Tagore's life work endures, in the form of his poetry and the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University.
Tagore wrote novels, short stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays on political and personal topics. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are among his best-known works. His verse, short stories, and novels, which often exhibited rhythmic lyricism, colloquial language, meditative naturalism, and philosophical contemplation, received worldwide acclaim. Tagore was also a cultural reformer and polymath who modernised Bengali art by rejecting strictures binding it to classical Indian forms. Two songs from his canon are now the national anthems of Bangladesh and India: the Amar Shonar Bangla and the Jana Gana Mana respectively.
Tagore (nicknamed "Rabi") was born the youngest of thirteen surviving children in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta (now Kolkata, India) of parents Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi.ε[›] The Tagore family were the Brahmo founding fathers of the Adi Dharm faith. After undergoing his upanayan at age eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta on 14 February 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting his father's Santiniketan estate and Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, Tagore read biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kālidāsa. In 1877, he rose to notability when he composed several works, including a long poem set in the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati. As a joke, he maintained that these were the lost works of Bhānusiṃha, a newly discovered 17th-century Vaiṣṇava poet. He also wrote "Bhikharini" (1877; "The Beggar Woman"—the Bengali language's first short story) and Sandhya Sangit (1882) —including the famous poem "Nirjharer Swapnabhanga" ("The Rousing of the Waterfall").
Tagore and his wife Mrinalini Devi in 1883.Seeking to become a barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, England in 1878. He studied law at University College London, but returned to Bengal in 1880 without a degree. On 9 December 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi (born Bhabatarini, 1873–1900); they had five children, two of whom later died before reaching adulthood. In 1890, Tagore began managing his family's estates in Shilaidaha, a region now in Bangladesh; he was joined by his wife and children in 1898. Known as "Zamindar Babu", Tagore traveled across the vast estate while living out of the family's luxurious barge, the Padma, to collect (mostly token) rents and bless villagers; in return, appreciative villagers held feasts in his honour. These years, which composed Tagore's Sadhana period (1891–1895; named for one of Tagore’s magazines), were among his most fecund. During this period, more than half the stories of the three-volume and eighty-four-story Galpaguchchha were written. With irony and emotional weight, they depicted a wide range of Bengali lifestyles, particularly village life.
Shantiniketan (1901–1932)
Main article: Life of Rabindranath Tagore (1901–1932)
Tagore, photographed in Hampstead, England in 1912 by John Rothenstein.In 1901, Tagore left Shilaidaha and moved to Santiniketan (West Bengal) to found an ashram, which would grow to include a marble-floored prayer hall ("The Mandir"), an experimental school, groves of trees, gardens, and a library. There, Tagore's wife and two of his children died. His father died on 19 January 1905, and he began receiving monthly payments as part of his inheritance. He received additional income from the Maharaja of Tripura, sales of his family's jewellery, his seaside bungalow in Puri, and mediocre royalties (Rs. 2,000) from his works. By now, his work was gaining him a large following among Bengali and foreign readers alike, and he published such works as Naivedya (1901) and Kheya (1906) while translating his poems into free verse. On 14 November 1913, Tagore learned that he had won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. According to the Swedish Academy, it was given due to the idealistic and—for Western readers—accessible nature of a small body of his translated material, including the 1912 Gitanjali: Song Offerings. In 1915, Tagore received the knighthood from the British Crown. But as a mark of rebuke to the rulers, post the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919, he renounced the title.
In 1921, Tagore and agricultural economist Leonard Elmhirst set up the Institute for Rural Reconstruction (which Tagore later renamed Shriniketan—"Abode of Wealth") in Surul, a village near the ashram at Santiniketan. Through it, Tagore sought to provide an alternative to Gandhi's symbol- and protest-based Swaraj movement, which he denounced. He recruited scholars, donors, and officials from many countries to help the Institute use schooling to "free village[s] from the shackles of helplessness and ignorance" by "vitaliz[ing] knowledge". In the early 1930s, he also grew more concerned about India's "abnormal caste consciousness" and untouchability, lecturing on its evils, writing poems and dramas with untouchable protagonists, and appealing to authorities at the Guruvayoor Temple to admit Dalits.
Twilight years (1932–1941)
Main article: Life of Rabindranath Tagore (1932–1941)
Tagore (left) meets with Mahatma Gandhi at Santiniketan in 1940.In his last decade, Tagore remained in the public limelight, publicly upbraiding Gandhi for stating that a massive 15 January 1934 earthquake in Bihar constituted divine retribution for the subjugation of Dalits. He also mourned the incipient socioeconomic decline of Bengal and the endemic poverty of Calcutta; he detailed the latter in an unrhymed hundred-line poem whose technique of searing double-vision would foreshadow Satyajit Ray's film Apur Sansar. Tagore also compiled fifteen volumes of writings, including the prose-poems works Punashcha (1932), Shes Saptak (1935), and Patraput (1936). He continued his experimentations by developing prose-songs and dance-dramas, including Chitrangada (1914), Shyama (1939), and Chandalika (1938), and wrote the novels Dui Bon (1933), Malancha (1934), and Char Adhyay (1934). Tagore took an interest in science in his last years, writing Visva-Parichay (a collection of essays) in 1937. His exploration of biology, physics, and astronomy impacted his poetry, which often contained extensive naturalism that underscored his respect for scientific laws. He also wove the process of science (including narratives of scientists) into many stories contained in such volumes as Se (1937), Tin Sangi (1940), and Galpasalpa (1941).
Tagore's last four years were marked by chronic pain and two long periods of illness. These began when Tagore lost consciousness in late 1937; he remained comatose and near death for an extended period. This was followed three years later in late 1940 by a similar spell, from which he never recovered. The poetry Tagore wrote in these years is among his finest, and is distinctive for its preoccupation with death. After extended suffering, Tagore died on 7 August 1941 (22 Shravan 1348) in an upstairs room of the Jorasanko mansion in which he was raised; his death anniversary is still mourned in public functions held across the Bengali-speaking world.
Travels
Tagore (center, at right) visits Chinese academics at Tsinghua University in 1924.Owing to his notable wanderlust, between 1878 and 1932, Tagore visited more than thirty countries on five continents; many of these trips were crucial in familiarising non-Indian audiences to his works and spreading his political ideas. In 1912, he took a sheaf of his translated works to England, where they impressed missionary and Gandhi protégé Charles F. Andrews, Anglo-Irish poet William Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rhys, Thomas Sturge Moore, and others. Indeed, Yeats wrote the preface to the English translation of Gitanjali, while Andrews joined Tagore at Santiniketan. On 10 November 1912, Tagore toured the United States and the United Kingdom, staying in Butterton, Staffordshire with Andrews’ clergymen friends. From 3 May 1916 until April 1917, Tagore went on lecturing circuits in Japan and the United States, during which he denounced nationalism—particularly that of the Japanese and Americans. He also wrote the essay "Nationalism in India", attracting both derision and praise (the latter from pacifists, including Romain Rolland). Shortly after returning to India, the 63-year-old Tagore visited Peru at the invitation of the Peruvian government, and took the opportunity to visit Mexico as well. Both governments pledged donations of $100,000 to the school at Shantiniketan (Visva-Bharati) in commemoration of his visits. A week after his November 6, 1924 arrival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, an ill Tagore moved into the Villa Miralrío at the behest of Victoria Ocampo. He left for India in January 1925. On 30 May 1926, Tagore reached Naples, Italy; he met fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Rome the next day. Their initially warm rapport lasted until Tagore spoke out against Mussolini on 20 July 1926.
Tagore (first row, third figure from right) meets members of the Iranian Majlis (Tehran, April-May 1932). Tagore visited Shiraz in the same year, .On 14 July 1927, Tagore and two companions began a four-month tour of Southeast Asia, visiting Bali, Java, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Siam, and Singapore. Tagore's travelogues from the tour were collected into the work "Jatri". In early 1930 he left Bengal for a nearly year-long tour of Europe and the United States. Once he returned to the UK, while his paintings were being exhibited in Paris and London, he stayed at a Friends settlement in Birmingham. There, he wrote his Hibbert Lectures for the University of Oxford (which dealt with the "idea of the humanity of our God, or the divinity of Man the Eternal") and spoke at London's annual Quaker gathering. There (addressing relations between the British and Indians, a topic he would grapple with over the next two years), Tagore spoke of a "dark chasm of aloofness". He later visited Aga Khan III, stayed at Dartington Hall, then toured Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany from June to mid-September 1930, then the Soviet Union. Lastly, in April 1932, Tagore—who was acquainted with the legends and works of the Persian mystic Hafez—was invited as a personal guest of Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran. Such extensive travels allowed Tagore to interact with many notable contemporaries, including Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and Romain Rolland. Tagore's last travels abroad, including visits to Persia and Iraq (in 1932) and Ceylon in 1933, only sharpened his opinions regarding human divisions and nationalism.
Works
Main article: Works of Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore's Bengali-language initials are worked into this "Ra-Tha" wooden seal, which bears close stylistic similarity to designs used in traditional Haida carvings. Tagore often embellished his manuscripts with such art. (Dyson 2001)Tagore's literary reputation is disproportionately influenced by regard for his poetry; however, he also wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. Of Tagore's prose, his short stories are perhaps most highly regarded; indeed, he is credited with originating the Bengali-language version of the genre. His works are frequently noted for their rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature. Such stories mostly borrow from deceptively simple subject matter: the lives of ordinary people.
Novels and non-fiction
Tagore wrote eight novels and four novellas, including Chaturanga, Shesher Kobita, Char Odhay, and Noukadubi. Ghare Baire (The Home and the World)—through the lens of the idealistic zamindar protagonist Nikhil—excoriates rising Indian nationalism, terrorism, and religious zeal in the Swadeshi movement; a frank expression of Tagore's conflicted sentiments, it emerged out of a 1914 bout of depression. Indeed, the novel bleakly ends with Hindu-Muslim sectarian violence and Nikhil's being (probably mortally) wounded. In some sense, Gora shares the same theme, raising controversial questions regarding the Indian identity. As with Ghore Baire, matters of self-identity (jāti), personal freedom, and religion are developed in the context of a family story and love triangle. Another powerful story is Jogajog (Relationships), where the heroine Kumudini—bound by the ideals of Shiva-Sati, exemplified by Dākshāyani—is torn between her pity for the sinking fortunes of her progressive and compassionate elder brother and his foil: her exploitative, rakish, and patriarchical husband. In it, Tagore demonstrates his feminist leanings, using pathos to depict the plight and ultimate demise of Bengali women trapped by pregnancy, duty, and family honour; simultaneously, he treats the decline of Bengal's landed oligarchy.
Other novels were more uplifting: Shesher Kobita (translated twice—Last Poem and Farewell Song) is his most lyrical novel, with poems and rhythmic passages written by the main character (a poet). It also contains elements of satire and postmodernism; stock characters gleefully attack the reputation of an old, outmoded, oppressively renowned poet who, incidentally, goes by the name of Rabindranath Tagore. Though his novels remain among the least-appreciated of his works, they have been given renewed attention via film adaptations by such directors as Satyajit Ray; these include Chokher Bali and Ghare Baire; many have soundtracks featuring selections from Tagore's own [[Rabindra sangeet. Tagore wrote many non-fiction books, writing on topics ranging from Indian history to linguistics. Aside from autobiographical works, his travelogues, essays, and lectures were compiled into several volumes, including Iurop Jatrir Patro (Letters from Europe) and Manusher Dhormo (The Religion of Man).
Music and artwork
"Dancing Girl", an undated ink-on-paper piece by Tagore.Tagore was a prolific musician and painter, writing around 2,230 songs. They comprise rabindrasangit (Bengali: রবীন্দ্র সংগীত—"Tagore Song"), now an integral part of Bengali culture. Tagore's music is inseparable from his literature, most of which—poems or parts of novels, stories, or plays alike—became lyrics for his songs. Primarily influenced by the thumri style of Hindustani classical music, they ran the entire gamut of human emotion, ranging from his early dirge-like Brahmo devotional hymns to quasi-erotic compositions. They emulated the tonal color of classical ragas to varying extents. Though at times his songs mimicked a given raga's melody and rhythm faithfully, he also blended elements of different ragas to create innovative works.
For Bengalis, their appeal, stemming from the combination of emotive strength and beauty described as surpassing even Tagore's poetry, was such that the Modern Review observed that "[t]here is in Bengal no cultured home where Rabindranath's songs are not sung or at least attempted to be sung... Even illiterate villagers sing his songs". Music critic Arthur Strangways of The Observer first introduced non-Bengalis to rabindrasangeet with his book The Music of Hindostan, which described it as a "vehicle of a personality... [that] go behind this or that system of music to that beauty of sound which all systems put out their hands to seize." Among them are Bangladesh's national anthem Amar Shonar Bangla (Bengali: আমার সোনার বাঙলা) and India's national anthem Jana Gana Mana (Bengali: জন গণ মন); Tagore thus became the only person ever to have written the national anthems of two nations. In turn, rabindrasangeet influenced the styles of such musicians as sitar maestro Vilayat Khan, and the sarodiyas Buddhadev Dasgupta and Amjad Ali Khan.
Much of Tagore's artwork dabbled in primitivism, including this pastel-coloured rendition of a Malanggan mask from northern New Ireland.At age sixty, Tagore took up drawing and painting; successful exhibitions of his many works—which made a debut appearance in Paris upon encouragement by artists he met in the south of France—were held throughout Europe. Tagore—who likely exhibited protanopia ("color blindness"), or partial lack of (red-green, in Tagore's case) colour discernment—painted in a style characterised by peculiarities in aesthetics and colouring schemes. Nevertheless, Tagore took to emulating numerous styles, including that of craftwork by the Malanggan people of northern New Ireland, Haida carvings from the west coast of Canada (British Columbia), and woodcuts by Max Pechstein. Tagore also had an artist's eye for his own handwriting, embellishing the scribbles, cross-outs, and word layouts in his manuscripts with simple artistic leitmotifs, including simple rhythmic designs.
Theatrical pieces
Tagore's experience in theatre began at age sixteen, when he played the lead role in his brother Jyotirindranath's adaptation of Molière's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. At age twenty, he wrote his first drama-opera—Valmiki Pratibha (The Genius of Valmiki)—which describes how the bandit Valmiki reforms his ethos, is blessed by Saraswati, and composes the Rāmāyana. Through it, Tagore vigorously explores a wide range of dramatic styles and emotions, including usage of revamped kirtans and adaptation of traditional English and Irish folk melodies as drinking songs. Another notable play, Dak Ghar (The Post Office), describes how a child—striving to escape his stuffy confines—ultimately "fall[s] asleep" (which suggests his physical death). A story with worldwide appeal (it received rave reviews in Europe), Dak Ghar dealt with death as, in Tagore's words, "spiritual freedom" from "the world of hoarded wealth and certified creeds".
His other works—emphasizing fusion of lyrical flow and emotional rhythm tightly focused on a core idea—were unlike previous Bengali dramas. His works sought to articulate, in Tagore's words, "the play of feeling and not of action". In 1890 he wrote Visarjan (Sacrifice), regarded as his finest drama. The Bengali-language originals included intricate subplots and extended monologues. Later, his dramas probed more philosophical and allegorical themes; these included Dak Ghar. Another is Tagore's Chandalika (Untouchable Girl), which was modeled on an ancient Buddhist legend describing how Ananda—the Gautama Buddha's disciple—asks water of an Adivasi ("untouchable") girl. Lastly, among his most famous dramas is Raktakaravi (Red Oleanders), which tells of a kleptocratic king who enriches himself by forcing his subjects to mine. The heroine, Nandini, eventually rallies the common people to destroy these symbols of subjugation. Tagore's other plays include Chitrangada, Raja, and Mayar Khela. Dance dramas based on Tagore's plays are commonly referred to as rabindra nritya natyas.
Short stories
A drawing by Nandalall Bose illustrating Tagore's short story "The Hero", an English-language translation of which appeared in the 1913 Macmillan publication of Tagore's The Crescent Moon.Tagore’s "Sadhana" period, comprising the four years from 1891 to 1895, was named for one of Tagore’s magazines. This period was among Tagore 's most fecund, yielding more than half the stories contained in the three-volume Galpaguchchha, which itself is a collection of eighty-four stories. Such stories usually showcase Tagore’s reflections upon his surroundings, on modern and fashionable ideas, and on interesting mind puzzles (which Tagore was fond of testing his intellect with). Tagore typically associated his earliest stories (such as those of the "Sadhana" period) with an exuberance of vitality and spontaneity; these characteristics were intimately connected with Tagore’s life in the common villages of, among others, Patisar, Shajadpur, and Shilaida while managing the Tagore family’s vast landholdings. There, he beheld the lives of India’s poor and common people; Tagore thereby took to examining their lives with a penetrative depth and feeling that was singular in Indian literature up to that point.
In "The Fruitseller from Kabul", Tagore speaks in first person as town-dweller and novelist who chances upon the Afghani seller. He attempts to distil the sense of longing felt by those long trapped in the mundane and hardscrabble confines of Indian urban life, giving play to dreams of a different existence in the distant and wild mountains: "There were autumn mornings, the time of year when kings of old went forth to conquest; and I, never stirring from my little corner in Calcutta, would let my mind wander over the whole world. At the very name of another country, my heart would go out to it... I would fall to weaving a network of dreams: the mountains, the glens, the forest.... ". Many of the other Galpaguchchha stories were written in Tagore’s Sabuj Patra period (1914–1917; also named for one of Tagore's magazines).
A 1913 illustration by Asit Kumar Haldar accompanying "The Beginning", a prose-poem appearing in Tagore's The Crescent Moon.Tagore's Golpoguchchho (Bunch of Stories) remains among Bengali literature's most popular fictional works, providing subject matter for many successful films and theatrical plays. Satyajit Ray's film Charulata was based upon Tagore's controversial novella, Nastanirh (The Broken Nest). In Atithi (also made into a film), the young Brahmin boy Tarapada shares a boat ride with a village zamindar. The boy reveals that he has run away from home, only to wander around ever since. Taking pity, the zamindar adopts him and ultimately arranges his marriage to the zamindar's own daughter. However, the night before the wedding, Tarapada runs off—again. Strir Patra (The Letter from the Wife) is among Bengali literature's earliest depictions of the bold emancipation of women. The heroine Mrinal, the wife of a typical patriarchical Bengali middle class man, writes a letter while she is traveling (which constitutes the whole story). It details the pettiness of her life and struggles; she finally declares that she will not return to her husband's home with the statement Amio bachbo. Ei bachlum ("And I shall live. Here, I live").
In Haimanti, Tagore takes on the institution of Hindu marriage, describing the dismal lifelessness of married Bengali women, hypocrisies plaguing the Indian middle classes, and how Haimanti, a sensitive young woman, must—due to her sensitiveness and free spirit—sacrifice her life. In the last passage, Tagore directly attacks the Hindu custom of glorifying Sita's attempted self-immolation as a means of appeasing her husband Rama's doubts. Tagore also examines Hindu-Muslim tensions in Musalmani Didi, which in many ways embodies the essence of Tagore's humanism. On the other hand, Darpaharan exhibits Tagore's self-consciousness, describing a young man harboring literary ambitions. Though he loves his wife, he wishes to stifle her own literary career, deeming it unfeminine. Tagore himself, in his youth, seems to have harbored similar ideas about women. Darpaharan depicts the final humbling of the man via his acceptance of his wife's talents. As many other Tagore stories, Jibito o Mrito provides the Bengalis with one of their more widely used epigrams: Kadombini moriya proman korilo she more nai ("Kadombini died, thereby proved that she hadn't").
Poetry
Bāul folk singers in Santiniketan during the annual Holi festival.Tagore's poetry—which varied in style from classical formalism to the comic, visionary, and ecstatic—proceeds out a lineage established by 15th- and 16th-century Vaiṣṇava poets. Tagore was also influenced by the mysticism of the rishi-authors who—including Vyasa—wrote the Upanishads, the Bhakta-Sufi mystic Kabir, and Ramprasad. Yet Tagore's poetry became most innovative and mature after his exposure to rural Bengal's folk music, which included ballads sung by Bāul folk singers—especially the bard Lālan Śāh. These—which were rediscovered and popularised by Tagore—resemble 19th-century Kartābhajā hymns that emphasize inward divinity and rebellion against religious and social orthodoxy. During his Shilaidaha years, his poems took on a lyrical quality, speaking via the maner manus (the Bāuls' "man within the heart") or meditating upon the jivan devata ("living God within"). This figure thus sought connection with divinity through appeal to nature and the emotional interplay of human drama. Tagore used such techniques in his Bhānusiṃha poems (which chronicle the romance between Radha and Krishna), which he repeatedly revised over the course of seventy years.
Later, Tagore responded to the (mostly) crude emergence of modernism and realism in Bengali literature by writing experimental works in the 1930s. Examples works include Africa and Camalia, which are among the better known of his latter poems. He also occasionally wrote poems using Shadhu Bhasha (a Sanskritised dialect of Bengali); later, he began using Cholti Bhasha (a more popular dialect). Other notable works include Manasi, Sonar Tori (Golden Boat), Balaka (Wild Geese—the title being a metaphor for migrating souls), and Purobi. Sonar Tori's most famous poem—dealing with the ephemeral nature of life and achievement—goes by the same name; it ends with the haunting phrase "শূন্য নদীর তীরে রহিনু পড়ি / যাহা ছিল লয়ে গেল সোনার তরী" ("Shunno nodir tire rohinu poŗi / Jaha chhilo loe gêlo shonar tori"—"all I had achieved was carried off on the golden boat—only I was left behind."). Internationally, Gitanjali (Bengali: গীতাঞ্জলি) is Tagore's best-known collection, winning him his Nobel Prize. Song VII (গীতাঞ্জলি 127) of Gitanjali:
Title page of the 1913 Macmillan edition of Tagore's Gitanjali.আমার এ গান ছেড়েছে তার সকল অলংকার,
তোমার কাছে রাখে নি আর সাজের অহংকার।
অলংকার যে মাঝে পড়ে মিলনেতে আড়াল করে,
তোমার কথা ঢাকে যে তার মুখর ঝংকার।
তোমার কাছে খাটে না মোর কবির গর্ব করা,
মহাকবি তোমার পায়ে দিতে যে চাই ধরা।
জীবন লয়ে যতন করি যদি সরল বাঁশি গড়ি,
আপন সুরে দিবে ভরি সকল ছিদ্র তার।
Amar e gan chheŗechhe tar shôkol ôlongkar
Tomar kachhe rakhe ni ar shajer ôhongkar
Ôlongkar je majhe pôŗe milônete aŗal kôre,
Tomar kôtha đhake je tar mukhôro jhôngkar.
Tomar kachhe khaţe na mor kobir gôrbo kôra,
Môhakobi, tomar paee dite chai je dhôra.
Jibon loe jôton kori jodi shôrol bãshi goŗi,
Apon shure dibe bhori sôkol chhidro tar.
Free-verse translation by Tagore (Gitanjali, verse VII):
"My song has put off her adornments. She has no pride of dress and decoration. Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers."
"My poet's vanity dies in shame before thy sight. O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet. Only let me make my life simple and straight, like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music."
"Klanti" (Bengali: ক্লান্তি; "Fatigue"), the sixth poem in Gitali, reads:
ক্লান্তি আমার ক্ষমা করো,প্রভু,
পথে যদি পিছিয়ে পড়ি কভু।
এই যে হিয়া থর থর কাঁপে আজি এমনতরো,
এই বেদনা ক্ষমা করো,ক্ষমা করো প্রভু।।
এই দীনতা ক্ষমা করো,প্রভু,
পিছন-পানে তাকাই যদি কভু।
দিনের তাপে রৌদ্রজ্বালায় শুকায় মালা পূজার থালায়,
সেই ম্লানতা ক্ষমা করো, ক্ষমা করো প্রভু।। Klanti amar khôma kôro, probhu
Pôthe jodi pichhie poŗi kobhu
Ei je hia thôro thôro kãpe aji êmontôro,
Ei bedona khôma kôro, khôma kôro probhu.
Ei dinota khôma kôro, probhu,
Pichhon-pane takai jodi kobhu.
Diner tape roudrojalae shukae mala pujar thalae,
Shei mlanota khôma kôro, khôma kôro, probhu.
Tagore's poetry has been set to music by various composers, among them classical composer Arthur Shepherd's triptych for soprano and string quartet, as well as composer Garry Schyman's "Praan," an adaptation of Tagore's poem "Stream of Life" from Gitanjali. The latter was composed and recorded with vocals by Palbasha Siddique to accompany Internet celebrity Matt Harding's 2008 viral video .
Political views
Main article: Political views of Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore (at right, on the dais) hosts Mahatma Gandhi and wife Kasturba at Santiniketan in 1940.Marked complexities characterise Tagore's political views. He criticised European imperialism and supported Indian nationalists and, although he himself vehemently denied it at the time, the evidence produced during the Hindu-German Conspiracy trial, as well as some later accounts, he was aware of the conspiracy and even interviewed the then Japanese premier Count Terauchi and former premier Count Okuma on behalf of the conspirators to try and enlist Japanese support. However, he also lampooned the Swadeshi movement, denouncing it in "The Cult of the Charka", an acrid 1925 essay. Instead, he emphasized self-help and intellectual uplift of the masses, stating that British imperialism was not a primary evil, but instead a "political symptom of our social disease", urging Indians to accept that "there can be no question of blind revolution, but of steady and purposeful education".
Such views inevitably enraged many, placing his life in danger: during his stay in a San Francisco hotel in late 1916, Tagore narrowly escaped assassination by Indian expatriates. The plot failed only because the would-be assassins fell into argument. Yet Tagore wrote songs lionizing the Indian independence movement and renounced his knighthood in protest against the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Two of Tagore's more politically charged compositions, "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo" ("Where the Mind is Without Fear") and "Ekla Chalo Re" ("If They Answer Not to Thy Call, Walk Alone"), gained mass appeal, with the latter favoured by Gandhi. Despite his tumultuous relations with Gandhi, Tagore was key in resolving a Gandhi-Ambedkar dispute involving separate electorates for untouchables, ending Gandhi's fast "unto death".
Tagore also criticised orthodox (rote-oriented) education, lampooning it in the short story "The Parrot's Training", where a bird—which ultimately dies—is caged by tutors and force-fed pages torn from books. These views led Tagore—while visiting Santa Barbara, California on 11 October 1917—to conceive of a new type of university, desiring to "make [his ashram at] Santiniketan the connecting thread between India and the world... [and] a world center for the study of humanity... somewhere beyond the limits of nation and geography." The school—which he named Visva-Bharatiζ[›]—had its foundation stone laid on 22 December 1918; it was later inaugurated on 22 December 1921. Here, Tagore implemented a brahmacharya pedagogical structure employing gurus to provide individualised guidance for pupils. Tagore worked hard to fundraise for and staff the school, even contributing all of his Nobel Prize monies. Tagore’s duties as steward and mentor at Santiniketan kept him busy; he taught classes in mornings and wrote the students' textbooks in afternoons and evenings. Tagore also fundraised extensively for the school in Europe and the U.S. between 1919 and 1921.
Impact and legacy
A bust of Tagore in the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial's Tagore Memorial Room (Ahmedabad, India).Tagore's post-death impact can be felt through the many festivals held worldwide in his honour—examples include the annual Bengali festival/celebration of Kabipranam (Tagore's birthday anniversary), the annual Tagore Festival held in Urbana, Illinois in the United States, the Rabindra Path Parikrama walking pilgrimages leading from Calcutta to Shantiniketan, and ceremonial recitals of Tagore's poetry held on important anniversaries. This legacy is most palpable in Bengali culture, ranging from language and arts to history and politics; indeed, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen noted that even for modern Bengalis, Tagore was a "towering figure", being a "deeply relevant and many-sided contemporary thinker". Tagore's collected Bengali-language writings—the 1939 Rabīndra Racanāvalī—is also canonized as one of Bengal's greatest cultural treasures, while Tagore himself has been proclaimed "the greatest poet India has produced".
Tagore was famed throughout much of Europe, North America, and East Asia. He was key in founding Dartington Hall School, a progressive coeducational institution; in Japan, he influenced such figures as Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata. Tagore's works were widely translated into English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and other European languages by Czech indologist Vincenc Lesný, French Nobel laureate André Gide, Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, former Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit and others. In the United States, Tagore's popular lecturing circuits (especially those between 1916–1917) were widely attended and acclaimed. Nevertheless, several controversiesη[›] involving Tagore resulted in a decline in his popularity in Japan and North America after the late 1920s, contributing to his "near total eclipse" outside of Bengal.
A statue of Tagore in Valladolid.Tagore, through Spanish translations of his works, also influenced leading figures of Spanish literature, including Chileans Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, Mexican writer Octavio Paz, and Spaniards José Ortega y Gasset, Zenobia Camprubí, and Juan Ramón Jiménez. Between 1914 and 1922, the Jiménez-Camprubí spouses translated no less than twenty-two of Tagore's books from English into Spanish. Jiménez, as part of this work, also extensively revised and adapted such works as Tagore's The Crescent Moon. Indeed, during this time, Jiménez developed the now-heralded innovation of "naked poetry" (Spanish: «poesia desnuda»). Ortega y Gasset wrote that "Tagore's wide appeal [may stem from the fact that] he speaks of longings for perfection that we all have... Tagore awakens a dormant sense of childish wonder, and he saturates the air with all kinds of enchanting promises for the reader, who... pays little attention to the deeper import of Oriental mysticism". Tagore's works were published in free editions around 1920 alongside works by Dante Alighieri, Miguel de Cervantes, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Plato, and Leo Tolstoy.
Tagore's talents came to be regarded as overrated by several westerners. Graham Greene doubted that "anyone but Mr. Yeats can still take his poems very seriously." Modern remnants of a once widespread Latin American reverence of Tagore were discovered, for example, by an astonished Salman Rushdie during a trip to Nicaragua.
Bibliography (partial)
—Bengali originals —
Poetry
* মানসী Manasi 1890 (The Ideal One)
* সোনার তরী Sonar Tari 1894 (The Golden Boat)
* গীতাঞ্জলি Gitanjali 1910 (Song Offerings)
* গীতিমালা Gitimalya 1914 (Wreath of Songs)
* বলাকা Balaka 1916 (The Flight of Cranes)
Dramas
* বালমিকি প্রতিভা Valmiki Pratibha 1881 (The Genius of Valmiki)
* বিসর্জন Visarjan 1890 (The Sacrifice)
* রাজা Raja 1910 (The King of the Dark Chamber)
* ডাক ঘর Dak Ghar 1912 (The Post Office)
* অচলায়তন Achalayatan 1912 (The Immovable)
* মুক্তধারা Muktadhara 1922 (The Waterfall)
* রক্তকরবি Raktakaravi 1926 (Red Oleanders)
Literary fiction
* নষ্টনীঢ় Nastanirh 1901 (The Broken Nest)
* গোরা Gora 1910 (Fair-Faced)
* ঘরে বাইরে Ghare Baire 1916 (The Home and the World)
* যোগাযোগ Yogayog 1929 (Crosscurrents)
Autobiographies
* জীবনস্মৃতি Jivansmriti 1912 (My Reminiscences)
* ছেলেবেলা Chhelebela 1940 (My Boyhood Days)
—English translations —
* Chitra (1914)
* Creative Unity (1922)
* Fruit-Gathering (1916)
* Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912)
* Glimpses of Bengal (1991)
* I Won't Let you Go: Selected Poems (1991)
* My Boyhood Days (1943)
* My Reminiscences (1991)
* Nationalism (1991)
* The Crescent Moon (1913)
* The Fugitive (1921)
* The Gardener (1913)
* The Home and the World (1985)
* The Hungry Stones and other stories (1916)
* The Post Office (1996)
* Sadhana: The Realisation of Life (1913)
* Selected Letters (1997)
* Selected Poems (1994)
* Selected Short Stories (1991)
* Songs of Kabir (1915)
* Stray Birds (1916)
Works in English
* Thought Relics (1921)
See also
[show]v • d • eRabindranath Tagore
Life Periods Early life (1861–1901) · Santiniketan (1901–1932) · Twilight years (1932–1941)
Aspects Political views
Works Novels Chokher Bali · Ghare Baire · Nastanirh · Jogajog · Shesher Kobita
Stories Kabuliwala
Poetry Gitanjali
Songs "Amar Shonar Bangla" · "Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo" · "Ekla Chalo Re" · "Jana Gana Mana" ·
Adaptations Charulata · Ghare Baire · Rabindranath Tagore
Places Jorasanko Thakur Bari · Santiniketan · Shilaidaha · Rabindra Bharati University · Visva-Bharati University
Tagore family Debendranath · Dwarkanath · Ramanath
Notes
This article contains Indic text.
Without rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes or other symbols instead of Indic characters; or irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts.
^ α: Indian English pronunciation:
IPA: [ɾəbin̪d̪ɾənat̪ʰ ʈæˈgoɾ].
^ β: Romanized transliteration from Tagore's name in Bengali script:
Robindronath Ţhakur.
^ γ: In the Bengali calendar: 25 Baishakh, 1268–22 Srabon, 1348.
^ δ: Gurudev translates as "divine mentor".
^ ε: Tagore was born at No. 6 Dwarkanath Tagore Lane, Jorasanko—the address of the main mansion (the Jorasanko Thakurbari) inhabited by the Jorasanko branch of the Tagore clan, which had earlier suffered an acrimonious split. Jorasanko was located in the Bengali section of Calcutta, near Chitpur Road.
^ ζ: Etymology of "Visva-Bharati": from the Sanskrit term for "world" or "universe" and the name of a Rigveda goddess ("Bharati") associated with Saraswati, the Hindu patron goddess of learning. "Visva-Bharati" also translates as "India in the World".
^ η: Tagore was mired in several notable controversies, including his dealings with Indian nationalists Subhas Chandra Bose and Rash Behari Bose, his expressions of admiration for Soviet-style Communism, and papers confiscated from Indian nationalists in New York allegedly implicating Tagore in a plot to use German funds to overthrow the British Raj. The latter allegation caused Tagore's book sales and popularity among the U.S. public to plummet. Lastly, his relations with and ambivalent opinion of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini revolted many, causing Romain Rolland (a close friend of Tagore's) to state that "[h]e is abdicating his role as moral guide of the independent spirits of Europe and India".
Citations
^ Rabindranath Tagore Winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature
^ Datta, Pradip Kumar (2003). "Introduction", Rabindranath Tagore's The Home and the World: A Critical Companion. Orient Longman, 2. ISBN 8178240467.
^ Kripalani, Krishna (1971). "Ancestry.", Tagore, A Life. Orient Longman, 2-3.
^ p.6, p.8 "Dwarkanath Tagore" Krishna Kripalani 1980 1st edn. reprint 2002 ISBN:81-237-3488-3
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 37.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 55–56.
^ Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 91.
^ Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 3.
^ a b c d e Chakravarty 1961, p. 45.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, p. 265.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 373.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 109–111.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 109.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 133.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 139–140.
^ Hjärne 1913.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 239–240.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 242.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 308–309.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 303.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 309.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 312–313.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 335–338.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 342.
^ a b "Chitra at Project Gutenberg"
^ Asiatic Society of Bangladesh 2006.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 338.
^ Indo-Asian News Service 2005.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 367.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 363.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 374–376.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 178–179.
^ a b Tagore Festival Committee 2006.
^ Chakravarty 1961, pp. 1–2.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 206.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 182.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 253.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 256.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 267.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 270–271.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 1.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 289–292.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 303–304.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 292–293.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 2.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 315.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 99.
^ Chakravarty 1961, pp. 100–103.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 317.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 192–194.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 154–155.
^ Mukherjee 2004.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 94.
^ a b Dasgupta 2001.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 359.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, p. 222.
^ Dyson 2001.
^ a b Chakravarty 1961, p. 123.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 79–80.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, pp. 21–23.
^ Chakravarty 1961, pp. 123–124.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 124.
^ Chakravarty 1961, pp. 45–46.
^ Chakravarty 1961, pp. 48–49.
^ Roy 1977, p. 201.
^ Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 94.
^ Urban 2001, p. 18.
^ Urban 2001, pp. 6–7.
^ Urban 2001, p. 16.
^ Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 95.
^ Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 7.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 281.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 192.
^ Stewart & Twichell 2003, pp. 95–96.
^ Tagore 1977, p. 5
^ Garry Schyman's Myspace weblog
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, p. 127.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, p. 210.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 304.
^ Brown 1948, p. 306
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 261.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, pp. 239–240.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 181.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 204.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 215–216.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 306–307.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 339.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1997, p. 267.
^ Tagore & Pal 1918.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 204.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 220.
^ Roy 1977, p. 175.
^ Chakravarty 1961, p. 27.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 221.
^ Chakrabarti 2001.
^ a b Hatcher 2001.
^ Kämpchen 2003.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 202.
^ Cameron 2006
^ a b c Sen 1997.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 254–255.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 255.
^ "The Crescent Moon"
^ "The Hungry Stones"
^ "Songs of Kabir"
^ "Stray Birds"
^ "Thought Relics"
^ Sil 2005.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 34.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 220.
^ a b Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 214.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 297.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, pp. 214–215.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 212.
^ Dutta & Robinson 1995, p. 273.
Timeline
Timeline of Rabindranath Tagore's life (1861–1941)[hide]
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Kämpchen, M (2003), "Rabindranath Tagore In Germany", Parabaas, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Meyer, L (2004), "Tagore in The Netherlands", Parabaas, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Mukherjee, M (2004), "Yogayog (Nexus) by Rabindranath Tagore: A Book Review", Parabaas, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Radice, W (2003), "Tagore's Poetic Greatness", Parabaas, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Robinson, A (1997), "Tagore, Rabindranath", Encyclopædia Britannica, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Roy, BK (1977), Rabindranath Tagore: The Man and His Poetry, Folcroft Library Editions, ISBN 0-8414-7330-7.
Sen, A (1997), "Tagore and His India", New York Review of Books, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Sil, NP (2005), "Devotio Humana: Rabindranath's Love Poems Revisited", Parabaas, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Tagore, R & PB (translator) Pal (1918), "The Parrot's Tale", Parabaas, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Tagore, R (1977), Collected Poems and Plays of Rabindranath Tagore, Macmillan Publishing, ISBN 0-02-615920-1.
Stewart, T (editor, translator) & Chase (editor, translator) Twichell (2003), Rabindranath Tagore: Lover of God, Copper Canyon Press, ISBN 1-55659-196-9.
Tagore Festival Committee (2006), "History of the Tagore Festival", College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, . Retrieved on April 5, 2006.
Urban, HB (2001), Songs of Ecstasy: Tantric and Devotional Songs from Colonial Bengal, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-513901-1.
Brown, Giles (1948), The Hindu Conspiracy, 1914-1917.The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 17, No. 3. (Aug., 1948), pp. 299-310, University of California Press, ISSN 0030-8684.
Further reading
Chaudhuri, A (2004), The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature, Vintage, ISBN 0-375-71300-X.
Deutsch, A & A Robinson (1989), The Art of Rabindranath Tagore, Monthly Review Press, ISBN 0-233-98359-7.
Deutsch, A (editor) & A (editor) Robinson (1997), Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-59018-3.
Tagore, R (2000), Gitanjali, Macmillan India Ltd, ISBN 0-333-93575-6.