Patriotic Songs of Tagore: with Nature and others

About Patriotic Songs of Tagore: with Nature and others

This is a selection of one hundred lyrics of Tagore- freely translated in full rhyme and keeping intact the Poet's original metrical pattern as far as possible- from his songs omnibus Geeta Bitan, tri-lingual in Bengali, Hindi and English scripts. In the first section on 'Motherland', that began in the context of 'Bengal Partition' in 1905, Tagore's inspiration was for an integrated entity, shorn of all shortcomings of past and present, its poverty and distortions. It was never an instaneous outburst, but 'emotion recollected in tranquility'. In the second section on 'Nature', Tagore expressed his love and faith in different seasons, much akin to Kalidasa's Rituambharam (Gathering of the Seasons) in the previous millenium. Tagore's songs on Nature were highly romantic, visualising seasons in appearances of beauty and grace, enriched by Santiniketan's resplendence of nature. In the third section on 'Others', mostly belonging to the later period of life, he made many new innovations in melody and musicality. This has been a culmination of a life-long evolution in creativity.