Rabindranath Tagore’s Philosophy in his Songs

Abstract

To talk of Bengali literature one must start with Rabindranath Tagore who has even crossed the periphery of our nation to glorify India in the realm of the world with his majestic artistic literary genius. Though he is acclaimed as a Bengali litterateur and critic and philosopher, he bagged the coveted Noble Prize for the translation and transcreations of his Bengali songs into English from the collection of poetry ‘Gitanjali’. Westerners were initially enamoured of these songs for their peaceful, mystical qualities, which contrasted sharply with a world on the verge of a harsh, global war. These songs also accentuate the idea of unity, highlighting Tagore’s lifelong goal to unite Eastern and Western traditions which was a heavy task at the time in British controlled India. Generally speaking, Bengali readers know Tagore for his huge body of work, while many Westerners still associate Tagore only with ‘Gitanjali’or ‘Song Offerings’. These songs are imbued with Tagore’s insights and his view of life. Hence in my paper I will try to analyse the songs of Tagore to enlighten his ideas which will ultimately focus on his deep philosophy of life.