Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore) - Hardcover

Rabindranath Tagore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9387669076 ISBN 13: 9789387669079

Publisher: General Press, 2025

Synopsis

Gitanjali' by Rabindranath Tagore is a celebrated work of devotional poetry and spiritual literature that explores the deepest questions of faith, love, life, death, and humanity’s relationship with the divine. What makes this classic so moving is its quiet simplicity: rather than presenting grand religious arguments, Tagore finds the sacred in ordinary moments, human emotions, nature, work, suffering, and the longing of the individual soul.

The poems in Gitanjali, meaning “Song Offerings,” unfold like an intimate conversation between the poet and a presence greater than himself. Tagore writes of a human heart that seeks closeness with God while recognizing its own weaknesses, doubts, pride, and limitations. The speaker repeatedly turns away from worldly possessions and ego, searching instead for humility, freedom, inner peace, and a life devoted to something beyond the self. Along the way, love becomes more than a personal emotion; it becomes a spiritual force capable of connecting human beings with one another and with the world around them.

Nature plays an especially important role in the collection. Rivers, flowers, sunlight, seasons, dust, birds, and changing landscapes become reflections of spiritual truth. Tagore’s vision is not one of escaping the world but of discovering the divine within it. He also celebrates ordinary people and everyday labor, suggesting that holiness can be found not only in temples or moments of prayer but in honest work and compassionate human connection.

At its heart, 'Gitanjali' is a meditation on surrender, devotion, mortality, and the search for meaning. Its language is lyrical yet remarkably accessible, allowing readers to approach profound ideas through images and emotions rather than complicated philosophy. More than a collection of poems, it feels like a journey inward—a gentle invitation to look beyond the noise of everyday life and listen to the voice of the soul. Even after more than a century, Gitanjali continues to raise timeless questions about what it means to love, believe, live, and finally let go, making it a classic worth discovering for yourself.

About this title

About the Author

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj. He was educated at home and although at seventeen he was sent to England for formal schooling, he did not finish his studies there. In his mature years, in addition to his many-sided literary activities, he managed the family estates, a project which brought him into close touch with common humanity and increased his interest in social reforms. He also started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education. From time to time he participated in the Indian nationalist movement, though in his own non-sentimental and visionary way; and Gandhi, the political father of modern India, was his devoted friend. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honour as a protest against British policies in India. Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West. In fact, his fame attained a luminous height, taking him across continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship. For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution. Although, Tagore wrote successfully in all literary genres, he was first of all a poet. Among his fifty and odd volumes of poetry are Manasi (1890) {The Ideal One}, Sonar Tari (1894) {The Golden Boat}, Gitanjali (1910) {Song Offerings}, Gitimalya (1914) {Wreath of Songs}, and Balaka (1916) {The Flight of Cranes}. The English renderings of his poetry, which include The Gardener (1913), Fruit-Gathering (1916), and The Fugitive (1921), do not generally correspond to particular volumes in the original Bengali; and in spite of its title, Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912), the most acclaimed of them, contains poems from other works besides its namesake. Tagore’s major plays are Raja (1910) {The King of the Dark Chamber}, Dakghar (1912) {The Post Office}, Achalayatan (1912) {The Immovable}, Muktadhara (1922) {The Waterfall}, and Raktakaravi (1926) {Red Oleanders}. He is the author of several volumes of short stories and a number of novels, among them Gora (1910), Ghare-Baire (1916) {The Home and the World}, and Yogayog (1929) {Crosscurrents}. Besides these, he wrote musical dramas, dance dramas, essays of all types, travel diaries, and two autobiographies, one in his middle years and the other shortly before his death in 1941. Tagore also left numerous drawings and paintings, and songs for which he wrote the music himself.

Edition details

• Publisher: General Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9387669076
• ISBN 13: 9789387669079
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 142