Gitanjali

Gitanjali Summary

Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore is a spiritual and poetic reflection on humanity’s relationship with the divine. Translated from Bengali into English by the author himself, this celebrated collection earned Tagore the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, making him the first non-European laureate.

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Gitanjali Excerpt

Short Summary: In Gitanjali, Tagore offers poetic expressions of spiritual surrender, awe of the divine, and intimate reflections on life, love, and the soul’s eternal journey. These verses blend mysticism, simplicity, and universality.

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.

The child who is decked with prince’s robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step. In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust he keeps himself from the world and is afraid to move. Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.

Deliver me from the bonds of the flesh. The dance of the veil of maya dazzles my sight and clouds my vision of truth. Thou art the sky and the nest as well. I leave my song on the air like a bird that flies far beyond sight. When I am silent, thy silence remains—an eternal music.

I came out alone on my way to my tryst. But who is this that follows me in the silent dark? I move aside to avoid his presence, but I escape him not. He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter. He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame; but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.