Remembering Rabindranath Tagore Volume - High Commission of ...

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Remembering Rabindranath Tagore
English poet, Wilfred Owen, who went to the battle field of the First World War, was said
to have had a copy of Gitanjali in his pocket!
‘Gitanjali: Song Offerings’, the translation done by Tagore himself, contains 103 poems.
This is not a complete translation of the Bengali work, for Bengali work contains 157
poems. In translating, Tagore made his choice from a number of his other works.
Subhankar Bhattacharya and Mayukh Chakraborty in an article ‘A Brief History of
Gitanjali Song Offerings from the Riverside of Padma to Stockholm’ write:
Tagore selected 53 poems from Gitanjali, 16 from Gitamalaya, 16 from
Naivedaya, 11 from Kheya, 3 from Shishu, 1 from Chaitali, 1 from Kalpana, 1
from Achalayalan and 1 from Utsarga. This means Gitanjali: Song of Offerings,
is the translation of 104 Bengali poems. Gitanjali 95 is a translation of two
Bengali poems, 89-90 of Naidedya, Gitanjali 61 is the translation of Khoka
(Shishu), where the last two stanzas have not been translated . Again in Gitanjali
102, only the first part of the Bengali original has been translated.”
(‘Gitanjali – Rabindranath Tagore’ edited by Subhankar Bhattacharya and
Mayukh Chakraborty), Parol Prakashini, 2007)
It is said that the English version of Gitanjali was severely criticized by the bilingual
critics of Bengal. Though it bears the same name, the English Gitanjali is not exactly the
Bengali Gitanjali. Tagore has chosen from it mainly and added from his other works too.
When the writer himself is the translator, he has the right to add, change or take away as
he wants, creating a new work. The English translation of Gitanjali is an example of such
a creation.
Why does Gitanjali get translated again and again, into many languages? This means it
has an appeal to the human soul. It brings man closer to his God.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. They build houses in the sand, play
with empty shells. They know not how to swim or cast nets. Tempests roar in the infinite
sky. Boats get ship-wrecked. And children play on the seashore of the world.
All humanity seems to be children. They meet and play, all needing guidance. Man seeks
guidance from God. In every poem in Gitanjali, man is in communion with God. God is
with him, though man cannot see him. He is there like a companion, a guardian or even
as the all mighty God himself.
Tagore’s poems speak to God, sometimes as to a lover. Love is closest to man’s heart, and
God is in the human heart, as close to him as love.