The Writings of Rabindranath Tagore
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Rabindranath Tagorewas a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature andmusic. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, freshand beautiful verse", viewed as spiritual and mercurial;however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remainlargely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse
forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature,thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classicalSanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indianculture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded asthe outstanding creative artist of modern South Asia.
A Pirali Brahmin from Calcutta, Tagore wrote poetry as aneight-year-old. At age sixteen, he released his first substantialpoems under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha ("Sun Lion"), whichwere seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost classics. Hegraduated to his first short stories and dramas—and the aegis of
his birth name—by 1877. As a humanist, universalistinternationalist, and strident anti-nationalist he denounced the Rajand advocated independence from Britain. As an exponent of the BengalRenaissance, he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings,sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs;his legacy endures also in the institution he
universalistinternationalist, and strident anti-nationalist he denounced the Rajand advocated independence from Britain. As an exponent of the BengalRenaissance, he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings,sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs;his legacy endures also in the institution he
founded, Visva-BharatiUniversity. Tagore modernisedBengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resistinglinguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, andessays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song
Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced) and Ghare-Baire (The Home and theWorld) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, andnovels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism,colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. Hiscompositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India'sJana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar
Bangla. Known mostly forhis poetry, Tagore wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues,dramas, and thousands of songs. Of Tagore's prose, his short storiesare perhaps most highly regarded; he is indeed credited withoriginating the Bengali-language version of the genre. His works arefrequently noted for their rhythmic, optimistic, and lyrical nature.
Such stories mostly borrow from deceptively simple subject matter:commoners. Tagore's non-fiction grappled with history, linguistics,and spirituality.
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