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Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta, India into a wealthy Brahmin family. After a brief stay in England (1878) to attempt to study law, he returned to India, and instead pursued a career as a writer, playwright, songwriter, poet, philosopher and educator. During the first 51 years of his life he achieved some success in the Calcutta area of India where he was born and raised with his many stories, songs and plays. His short stories were published monthly in a friend"s magazine and he even played the lead role in a few of the public performances of his plays. Otherwise, he was little known outside of the Calcutta area, and not known at all outside of India.
This all suddenly changed in 1912. He then returned to England for the first time since his failed attempt at law school as a teenager. Now a man of 51, his was accompanied by his son. On the way over to England he began translating, for the first time, his latest selections of poems, Gitanjali, into English. Almost all of his work prior to that time had been written in his native tongue of Bengali. He decided to do this just to have something to do, with no expectation at all that his first time translation efforts would be any good. He made the handwritten translations in a little notebook he carried around with him and worked on during the long sea voyage from India. Upon arrival, his son left his father"s brief case with this notebook in the London subway. Fortunately, an honest person turned in the briefcase and it was recovered the next day. Tagore"s one friend in England, a famous artist he had met in India, Rothenstein, learned of the translation, and asked to see it. Reluctantly, with much persuasion, Tagore let him have the notebook. The painter could not believe his eyes. The poems were incredible. He called his friend, W.B. Yeats, and finally talked Yeats into looking at the hand scrawled notebook.
The rest, as they say, is history. Yeats was enthralled. He later wrote the introduction to Gitanjali when it was published in September 1912 in a limited edition by the India Society in London. Thereafter, both the poetry and the man were an instant sensation, first in London literary circles, and soon thereafter in the entire world. His spiritual presence was awesome. His words evoked great beauty. Nobody had ever read anything like it. A glimpse of the mysticism and sentimental beauty of Indian culture were revealed to the West for the first time. Less than a year later, in 1913, Rabindranath received the Nobel Prize for literature. He was the first non-westerner to be so honored. Overnight he was famous and began world lecture tours promoting inter-cultural harmony and understanding. In 1915 he was knighted by the British King George V. When not traveling he remained at his family home outside of Calcutta, where he remained very active as a literary, spiritual and social-political force.
In 1919, following the Amritsar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by British troops, Sir Tagore renounced his Knighthood. Although a good friend of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, most of the time Tagore stayed out of politics. He was opposed to nationalism and miltiarism as a matter of principle, and instead promoted spiritual values and the creation of a new world culture founded in multi-culturalism, diversity and tolerance. He served as a spiritual and creative beacon to his countrymen, and indeed, the whole world. He used the funds from his writing and lecturing to expand upon the school he had founded in 1901 now known as Visva Bharati . The alternative to the poor system of education imposed by the British, combined the best of traditional Hindu education with Western ideals. Tagore"s multi-cultural educational efforts were an inspiration to many, including his friend, Count Hermann Keyserling of Estonia. Count Keyserling founded his own school in 1920 patterned upon Tagore"s school, and the ancient universities which existed in Northern India under Buddhist rule over 2,000 years ago under the name School of Wisdom. Rabindranath Tagore led the opening program of the School of Wisdom in 1920, and participated in several of its programs thereafter.
Rabindranath Tagore"s creative output tells you a lot about this renaissance man. The variety, quality and quantity are unbelievable. As a writer, Tagore primarily worked in Bengali, but after his success with Gitanjali, he translated many of his other works into English. He wrote over one thousand poems; eight volumes of short stories; almost two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; and many books and essays on philosophy, religion, education and social topics. Aside from words and drama, his other great love was music, Bengali style. He composed more than two thousand songs, both the music and lyrics. Two of them became the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. In 1929 he even began painting. Many of his paintings can be found in museums today, especially in India, where he is considered the greatest literary figure of India of all times.
Tagore was not only a creative genius, he was a great man and friend to many. For instance, he was also a good friend from childhood to the great Indian Physicist, Bose. He was educated and quite knowledgeable of Western culture, especially Western poetry and Science. This made him a remarkable person, one of the first of our planet to combine East and West, and ancient and modern knowledge. Tagore had a good grasp of modern - post-Newtonian - physics, and was well able to hold his own in a debate with Einstein in 1930 on the newly emerging principles of quantum mechanics and chaos. His meetings and tape recorded conversations with his contemporaries such Albert Einstein and H.G. Wells, stand as cultural landmarks, and show the brilliance of this great man. Although Tagore is a superb representative of his country - India - the man who wrote its national anthem - his life and works go far beyond his country. He is truly a man of the whole Earth, a product of the best of both traditional Indian, and modern Western cultures. The School of Wisdom is proud to have him as part of its heritage. He exemplifies the ideals important to us of Goodness, Meaningful Work,
罗宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔（1861年5月7日—1941年8月7日）是一位印度诗人、哲学家和印度民族主义者，1913年他获得诺贝尔文学奖，是第一位获得诺贝尔文学奖的亚洲人。
泰戈尔出生于印度加尔各答一个受到良好教育的富裕家庭，他的父亲是一位地方的印度教宗教领袖。在外国泰戈尔一般被看作是一位诗人，而很少被看做一位哲学家，但在印度这两者往往是相同的。在他的诗中含有深刻的宗教和哲学的见解。对泰戈尔来说，他的诗是他奉献给神的礼物，而他本人是神的求婚者。他的诗在印度享有史诗的地位。他本人被许多印度教徒看作是一个圣人。
除诗外泰戈尔还写了小说、小品文、游记、话剧和2000多首歌曲。他的诗歌主要是用孟加拉语写成，在孟加拉语地区，他的诗歌非常普及。
他的散文的内容主要是社会、政治和教育，他的诗歌，除了其中的宗教内容外，最主要的是描写自然和生命。在泰戈尔的诗歌中，生命本身和它的多样性就是欢乐的原因。同时，他所表达的爱（包括爱国）也是他的诗歌的内容之一。
印度和孟加拉国的国歌使用的是泰戈尔的诗。维尔弗德·欧文和威廉·勃特勒·叶芝被他的诗深受感动，在叶芝的鼓励下，泰戈尔亲自将他的《吉檀枷利》（意即“饥饿的石头”）译成英语，1913年他为此获得了诺贝尔文学奖。
泰戈尔在印度独立运动的初期支持这个运动，但后来他与这个运动疏远了。为了抗议1919年札连瓦拉园惨案，他拒绝了英国国王授予的骑士头衔，他是第一个拒绝英王授予的荣誉的人。
他反对英国在印度建立起来的教育制度，反对这种“人为”的、完全服从的、死背书、不与大自然接触的学校。为此他在他的故乡建立了一个按他的设想设计的学校，这是维斯瓦－巴拉蒂大学的前身。
在他的诗歌中，泰戈尔也表达出了他对战争的绝望和悲痛，但他的和平希望没有任何政治因素，他希望所有的人可以生活在一个完美的和平的世界中。
泰戈尔做过多次旅行，这使他了解到许多不同的文化以及它们之间的区别。他对东方和西方文化的描写至今为止是这类描述中最细腻的之一。
拉宾德拉纳特.泰戈尔(1861～1941）印度著名诗人、作家、艺术家和社会活动家。1913年获诺贝尔文学奖。生于加尔各答市的一个富有哲学和文学艺术修养家庭，13岁即能创作长诗和颂歌体诗集。1878年赴英国留学，1880年回国专门从事文学活动。1884至1911年担任梵社秘书，20年代创办国际大学。1941年写作控诉英国殖民统治和相信祖国必将获得独立解放的著名遗言《文明的危机》。泰戈尔是具有巨大世界影响的作家。他共写了50多部诗集，被称为"诗圣"。写了12部中长篇小说，100多篇短篇小说，20多部剧本及大量文学、哲学、政治论著，并创作了1500多幅画，诸写了难以统计的众多歌曲。文、史、哲、艺、 政、经范畴几乎无所不包，无所不精。他的作品反映了印度人民在帝国主义和封建种姓制度压迫下要求改变自己命运的强烈愿望，描写了他们不屈不挠的反抗斗争，充满了鲜明的爱国主义和民主主义精神，同时又富有民族风格和民族特色， 具有很高艺术价值，深受人民群众喜爱。其重要诗作有诗集《故事诗集》（1900）、《吉檀迦利》（1910）、《新月集》 （1913）、《飞鸟集》（1916）、《边缘集》（1938）、《生辰集》（1941）；重要小说有短篇《还债》（1891）、 《弃绝》（1893）、《素芭》（1893）、《人是活着，还是死了？》（1892）、《摩诃摩耶》（1892）、《太阳与乌云》 （1894），中篇《四个人》（1916），长篇《沉船》（1906）、《戈拉》（1910）、《家庭与世界》（1916）、《两姐 妹》（1932）；重要剧作有《顽固堡垒》（1911）、《摩克多塔拉》（1925）、《人红夹竹桃》（1926）；重要散文有 《死亡的贸易》（1881）、《中国的谈话》（1924）、《俄罗斯书简》（1931）等。他的作品早在1915年就已介绍到中国，现已出版了10卷本的中文《泰戈尔作品》。
1861年5月7日，罗宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔出生于印度加尔各答一个富有的贵族家庭。他的父亲戴宾德纳特·泰戈尔是闻名的哲学家和社会活动家。哥哥、姐姐也都是社会名流。泰戈尔在这样一个文坛世家环境的薰陶下，8岁开始写诗，12岁开始写剧本，15岁发表了第一首长诗《野花》，17岁发表了叙事诗《诗人的故事》。才华横溢的泰戈尔从小就走上了文学创作的道路。1886年，他发表《新月集》，成为印度大中小学必选的文学教材。这期间，他还撰写了许多抨击美国殖民统治政论文章。
1901年，泰戈尔在圣地尼克坦创办了一所从事儿童教育实验的学校。这所学校在1912年发展成为亚洲文化交流的国际大学。
1905年，泰戈尔投身于民族独立运动，创作了《洪水》等爱国歌曲。《人民的意志》被定为今日印度的国歌。1910年，泰戈尔发表长篇小说《戈拉》。1916年，发表长篇小说《家庭和世界》，热情歌颂争取民族独立的爱国主义精神。1912年，泰戈尔以抒情诗集《吉檀迦利》获诺贝尔文学奖金。1913年发表为人们所熟知的《飞鸟集》和《园丁集》。
1924年曾来过中国，泰戈尔回国后，撰写了许多文章，表达了对中国人民的友好情谊。
泰戈尔的一生是在印度处于英国殖民统治的年代中度过的。祖国的沦亡、民族的屈辱、殖民地人民的悲惨生活，都深深地烙印在泰戈尔的心灵深处，爱国主义的思想一开始就在他的作品中强烈地表现出来。他虽然出身于富贵家庭、生活在矛盾错综复杂的社会里，但他的爱憎是分明的，创作思想是明确的，始终跟上了时代的步伐。他曾在民族独立运动高潮时，写信给英国总督表示抗议殖民统治，并高唱自己写的爱国诗歌领导示威游行。他还曾坚决抛弃英国政府所授予的爵位和特权。印度人民尊崇他、热爱他，称他为诗圣、印度的良心和印度的灵魂。
泰戈尔不是个狭隘的爱国主义者。他对于处在帝国主义侵略和压迫下的各国人民一贯寄予深切的同情，并给予有力的支持。20世纪20年代，泰戈尔曾多次出国访问，并与世界各国文化名人一起组织反战的和平团体。30年代，当德、意、日法西斯发动侵略战争的时候，泰戈尔拍案而起，向全世界大声疾呼：“在我离去之前，我向每一个家庭呼吁——准备战斗吧，反抗那披着人皮的野兽。”就这样，直到1941年8月7日泰戈尔在加尔各答逝世，他一直战斗到生命的最后一刻。
这位举世闻名、多才多艺的作家，在漫长的六十多年创作生涯里，共写了五十多部诗集，12部中长篇小说，一百余篇短篇小说，二百多个剧本和许多有关文学、哲学、政治的论文以及回忆录、游记、书简等。其中1921年问世的著名诗集《吉檀迦利》，使泰戈尔获得了诺贝尔文学奖。《故事诗》和《两亩地》是印度人民喜闻乐见、广为传诵的不朽诗篇。脍炙人口的《喀布尔人》、《素芭》和《摩诃摩耶》均为世界短篇小说的杰作。《赎罪》、《顽固堡垒》、《红夹竹桃》等都是针对当时印度社会现实予以无情揭露和鞭笞的著名戏剧剧本。
泰戈尔不仅是一位造诣很深的作家、诗人，还是一位颇有成就的作曲家和画家。他一生共创作了二千余首激动人心、优美动听的歌曲。其中，他在印度民族解放运动高涨时期创作的不少热情洋溢的爱国歌曲，成了鼓舞印度人民同殖民主义统治进行斗争的有力武器。《人民的意志》这首歌，于1950年被定为印度国歌。泰戈尔70高龄时学习作画，绘制的1500帧画，曾作为艺术珍品在世界许多有名的地方展出。
1941年，泰戈尔与世长逝，享年81岁。
泰戈尔（1861～1941）
Tagore，Rabindranath
印度诗人，作家，艺术家，社会活动家。是向西方介绍印度文化和把西方文化介绍到印度的很有影响的人物。
生平 1861年5月7日生于西孟加拉邦加尔各答市，1941年8月7日卒于同地。家庭属于商人兼地主，婆罗门种姓。祖父德瓦尔格纳特·泰戈尔和父亲戴本德拉纳特·泰戈尔都是社会活动家，支持社会改革。泰戈尔进过东方学院、师范学校和孟加拉学院，但没有完成正规学习。他的知识得自父兄和家庭教师的耳提面命以及自己的努力者为多。他从13岁开始诗歌创作 ，14岁发表爱国诗篇《献给印度教徒庙会》。1878年，他遵父兄意愿赴英国留学，最初学习法律，后转入伦敦大学学习英国文学，研究西方音乐。1880年回国，专事文学创作。1884年，离开城市到乡村去管理祖传田产。1901年，在孟加拉博尔普尔附近的圣地尼克坦创办学校，这所学校于1921年发展成为交流亚洲文化的国际大学。1905年后民族解放运动进入高潮，孟加拉和全印度人民都反对孟加拉分割的决定，形成轰轰烈烈反帝爱国运动。泰戈尔去加尔各答投身运动，义愤填膺，写出大量爱国诗篇。但不久同运动其他领袖发生意见分歧，他不赞成群众焚烧英国货物、辱骂英国人的“直接行动”，而主张多做“建设性”工作，如到农村去发展工业、消灭贫困愚昧等。他于1907年退出运动回圣地尼克坦，过隐居生活，埋头创作。1913年，他因英文版《吉檀迦利》（Gitanjaei，即《牲之颂》，1911年出版）荣获诺贝尔文学奖，从此闻名世界文坛。加尔各答大学授予他博士学位。英国政府封他为爵士。第一次世界大战爆发后，他先后10余次远涉重洋，访问几十个国家和地区，传播和平友谊，从事文化交流。1919年，发生阿姆利则惨案，英国军队开枪打死1000多印度平民，泰戈尔声明放弃爵士称号，以示抗议。1930年，他访问苏联，写有《俄国书简》。他谴责意大利法西斯侵略阿比西尼亚（埃塞俄比亚）。支持西班牙共和国政府反对法西斯头子佛朗哥。第二次世界大战爆发后，他写文章斥责希特勒的不义行径。他始终关心世界政治和人民命运，支持人类的正义事业。
【创作】
在长达近70年的创作活动中，泰戈尔共写了50多部诗集，12部中长篇小说，100余篇短篇小说，20多部剧本，大量关于文学、哲学、政治方面的论著，还创作了1500余幅画和2000余首歌曲，其中1首为印度国歌。
13岁以后 ，泰戈尔发表了长诗《野花》、《诗人的故事》等，1881～1885年，出版抒情诗集《暮歌》、《晨歌》、《画与歌》，还有戏剧和长篇小说。戏剧和小说多取材于史诗和往世书，诗歌富于浪漫主义色彩。1886年，诗集《刚与柔》出版，标志着他在创作道路上进入面向人生与现实生活的时期。诗集《心中的向往》是他第一部成熟的作品，他的独特风格开始形成。这一时期还写了剧本《国王与王后》和《牺牲》，反对恢复婆罗门祭司的特权和落后习俗。19世纪90年代是泰戈尔创作的旺盛时期。从1891年起，在他主编的《萨塔纳》杂志上，发表《摩诃摩耶》等60多篇短篇小说，主要是反对封建压迫，揭露现实生活中不合理现象。他发表了《金帆船》、《缤纷集》、《收获集》、《梦幻集》、《刹那集》5 部抒情诗集，1部哲理短诗《微思集》和1部《故事诗集》。收入《缤纷集》的叙事诗《两亩地》是作者民主主义思想的最高表现。从《刹那集》起，他开始用孟加拉口语写诗。他的第二部英译诗集《园丁集》里的诗大多选自这一时期作品。
20世纪初泰戈尔遭遇到个人生活的不幸，丧偶、丧女、丧父的悲痛与伤感在诗集《回忆》、《儿童》和《渡船》中有真实记录。他另有两部长篇小说《小沙子》和《沉船》。1910年，长篇小说《戈拉》发表，它反映了印度社会生活中的复杂现象，塑造了争取民族自由解放的战士形象；歌颂了新印度教徒爱国主义热情和对祖国必获自由的信心，同时也批判他们维护旧传统的思想；对梵社某些人的教条主义、崇洋媚外也予以鞭挞 。这期间还写了象征剧《国王》和《邮局》及讽刺剧《顽固堡垒》。1910年，孟加拉文诗集《吉檀迦利》出版 ，后泰戈尔旅居伦敦时把《吉檀迦利》、《渡船》和《奉献集》里的部分诗作译成英文，1913年《吉檀迦利》英译本出版，泰戈尔成为亚洲第一个获诺贝尔文学奖的作家。他进入另一创作高潮，发表诗歌《歌之花环》、《颂歌》、《白鹤》、《逃避》，中长篇小说《四个人》与《家庭与世界》。20世纪20 年代泰戈尔仍坚持写作，发表剧本《摩克多塔拉》、《红夹竹桃》，长篇小说《纠纷》、《最后的诗篇》及一些诗作。30年代他又陆续出版长篇小说《两姐妹》、《花圃》、《四章》；戏剧《时代的车轮》、《纸牌王国》 ；诗集《再一次》、《边缘集》和政治抒情诗《礼佛》等。1941年4月 ，他写下最后遗言、有名的《文明的危机》，对英国殖民统治进行控诉，表达了对民族独立的坚定信念。
《泰戈尔作品集》中译本
思想发展与艺术成就 泰戈尔生逢急剧变革的时代，受到印度传统哲学思想和西方哲学思想的影响。但他世界观最基本最核心部分还是印度传统的泛神论思想 ，即“梵我合一”。在《缤纷集》中，他第一次提出“生命之神”观念。他对神的虔诚是和对生活、国家与人民的爱融合在一起的。但这使他的诗歌也蒙上了浓厚的神秘主义色彩。另外，他提倡东方的精神文明，但又不抹煞西方的物质文明。这些都使他的思想中充满了矛盾而表现在创作上。综观泰戈尔一生思想和创作发展 ，可大体分3个阶段：①幼年直至1910年前后，他积极参加反英政治活动，歌颂民族英雄，宣扬爱国主义，提倡印度民族大团结。②隐居生活直至1919年再次积极参加民族运动，爱国主义激情稍有消退，政治内容强的诗歌被带有神秘意味的诗歌所取代，也受了西方象征主义、唯美主义诗歌的影响，宣扬的是爱与和谐。③从1919年阿姆利则惨案开始直至逝世，他又开始关心政治，积极投入民族解放斗争，作品的内容又充满了政治激情，视野也开阔了，对世界和人类都十分关心 。可以说 ，泰戈尔一生的创作既有“菩萨慈眉”，也有“金刚怒目”。他的诗歌受印度古典文学、西方诗歌和孟加拉民间抒情诗歌的影响，多为不押韵、不雕琢的自由诗和散文诗；他的小说受西方小说的影响，又有创新，特别是把诗情画意融入其中，形成独特风格。
泰戈尔与中国 泰戈尔一贯强调印中两国人民团结友好合作的必要性。1881年，他写了《死亡的贸易》一文，谴责英国向中国倾销鸦片、毒害中国人民的罪行。1916年，他在日本发表谈话，抨击日本军国主义侵略中国的行动。1924年，他访问中国，回国发表了《在中国的谈话》。1937年，日本帝国主义发动侵华战争以后，他屡次发表公开信、谈话和诗篇，斥责日本帝国主义，同情和支持中国人民的正义斗争。中国作家郭沫若、郑振铎、冰心、徐志摩等人早期的创作，大多受过他的影响。他的作品早在1915年就已介绍到中国。几十年来出版的他的作品的中译本和评介著作为数很多。1961年为纪念他的百岁诞辰，人民文学出版社出版了10卷本《泰戈尔作品集》。
罗宾德拉纳特u2022泰戈尔（Rabindranath Tagore，1861-1941）印度孟加拉语诗人、作家、艺术家、社会活动家。生于加尔各答市一个具有深厚文化教养的家庭，父亲是著名的宗教改革家和社会活动家，六个哥哥也均献身于社会改革和文艺复兴运动。泰戈尔自幼厌恶正规学校的教育，靠家庭教育和刻苦自学度过少年时代，1878年去英国学法律，后转入伦敦大学攻读英国文学，研究西方音乐。
泰戈尔童年时代即崭露诗才，他的爱国诗篇《给印度教徒庙会》（1875）发表时，年仅14岁。1880年，19岁的泰戈尔便成为职业作家。1881至1885年，他出版了抒情诗集《暮歌》（1882）、《晨歌》（1883），还有戏剧和小说等作品。这些早期伤品的特点是梦幻多于现实，富于浪漫主义色彩。
90年代是泰戈尔创作的旺盛期，诗集《心中的向往》（1890）是他的第一部成熟作品，著名诗篇《两亩地》（1894）的发表，标志着泰戈尔从宗教神秘主义走向深刻的人道主义。这一时期的诗作还有《金帆船》（1894）、《缤纷集》（1896）第5部抒情诗集和一部《故事诗集》（1900）。此外，他还创作了60多篇短篇小说，其中的《素芭》（1893）、《摩诃摩耶》（1892）、《最活着，还是死了？》（1892）等被列入世界优秀短篇小说杰作之林。
1901年，泰戈尔为改造社会创办了一所学校，从事儿童教育实验。1912年，这所学校成为亚洲文化交流的国际大学。由于英国在孟加拉推行分裂政策，1905年印度掀起民族解放运动的第一个高潮，泰戈尔积极投身于运动并创作了许多爱国诗篇。这一时期是他创作的最辉煌时期。他出版了8部孟加拉文诗集和8部英文诗集，其中《吉檀迦利》为诗人赢得世界性声誉。这一时期重要的诗集还有《园丁集》（1913）、《新月集》（1915）、《飞鸟集》（1916）等。1910年，泰戈尔又发表了史诗性长篇小说《戈拉》和象征剧《国王》等。
1919年，印度掀起第二次民族解放运动高潮，为寻求民族解放道路，他走遍五大洲，发表了许多著名演讲。这时期突出成就是政治抒情诗，分别收在《非洲集》（1937）、《边沿集》（1938）、《生辰集》（1941）等作品中。
泰戈尔一生共创作了50多部诗集，12部中、长篇小说，100余篇短篇小说，20余种戏剧，还有大量有关文学、哲学、政治的论著和游记、书简等。此外，他还是位造诣颇深的音乐家和画家，曾创作2000余首歌曲和1500余帧画，其中歌曲《人民的意志》已被定为印度国歌。
在60余年的艺术生涯中，他继承了古典和民间文学的优秀传统，吸收了欧洲浪漫主义与现实主义文学的丰富营养，在创作上达到炉火纯青的地步，取得了辉煌成就，成为一代文化巨人。1913年，“由于他那至为敏锐、清新与优美的诗；这诗出之以高超的技巧，并由他自己用英文表达出来，使他那充满诗意的思想业已为西方文学的一部分”，获诺贝尔文学奖。英国政府封他为爵士。
1941年4月，这位旷世奇才，印度近代文学的奠基人写下最后的遗言《文明的危机》。同年8月7日，泰戈尔于加尔各答祖宅去世。
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Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta, India into a wealthy Brahmin family. After a brief stay in England (1878) to attempt to study law, he returned to India, and instead pursued a career as a writer, playwright, songwriter, poet, philosopher and educator. During the first 51 years of his life he achieved some success in the Calcutta area of India where he was born and raised with his many stories, songs and plays. His short stories were published monthly in a friend"s magazine and he even played the lead role in a few of the public performances of his plays. Otherwise, he was little known outside of the Calcutta area, and not known at all outside of India.
This all suddenly changed in 1912. He then returned to England for the first time since his failed attempt at law school as a teenager. Now a man of 51, his was accompanied by his son. On the way over to England he began translating, for the first time, his latest selections of poems, Gitanjali, into English. Almost all of his work prior to that time had been written in his native tongue of Bengali. He decided to do this just to have something to do, with no expectation at all that his first time translation efforts would be any good. He made the handwritten translations in a little notebook he carried around with him and worked on during the long sea voyage from India. Upon arrival, his son left his father"s brief case with this notebook in the London subway. Fortunately, an honest person turned in the briefcase and it was recovered the next day. Tagore"s one friend in England, a famous artist he had met in India, Rothenstein, learned of the translation, and asked to see it. Reluctantly, with much persuasion, Tagore let him have the notebook. The painter could not believe his eyes. The poems were incredible. He called his friend, W.B. Yeats, and finally talked Yeats into looking at the hand scrawled notebook.
The rest, as they say, is history. Yeats was enthralled. He later wrote the introduction to Gitanjali when it was published in September 1912 in a limited edition by the India Society in London. Thereafter, both the poetry and the man were an instant sensation, first in London literary circles, and soon thereafter in the entire world. His spiritual presence was awesome. His words evoked great beauty. Nobody had ever read anything like it. A glimpse of the mysticism and sentimental beauty of Indian culture were revealed to the West for the first time. Less than a year later, in 1913, Rabindranath received the Nobel Prize for literature. He was the first non-westerner to be so honored. Overnight he was famous and began world lecture tours promoting inter-cultural harmony and understanding. In 1915 he was knighted by the British King George V. When not traveling he remained at his family home outside of Calcutta, where he remained very active as a literary, spiritual and social-political force.
In 1919, following the Amritsar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by British troops, Sir Tagore renounced his Knighthood. Although a good friend of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, most of the time Tagore stayed out of politics. He was opposed to nationalism and miltiarism as a matter of principle, and instead promoted spiritual values and the creation of a new world culture founded in multi-culturalism, diversity and tolerance. He served as a spiritual and creative beacon to his countrymen, and indeed, the whole world. He used the funds from his writing and lecturing to expand upon the school he had founded in 1901 now known as Visva Bharati . The alternative to the poor system of education imposed by the British, combined the best of traditional Hindu education with Western ideals. Tagore"s multi-cultural educational efforts were an inspiration to many, including his friend, Count Hermann Keyserling of Estonia. Count Keyserling founded his own school in 1920 patterned upon Tagore"s school, and the ancient universities which existed in Northern India under Buddhist rule over 2,000 years ago under the name School of Wisdom. Rabindranath Tagore led the opening program of the School of Wisdom in 1920, and participated in several of its programs thereafter.
Rabindranath Tagore"s creative output tells you a lot about this renaissance man. The variety, quality and quantity are unbelievable. As a writer, Tagore primarily worked in Bengali, but after his success with Gitanjali, he translated many of his other works into English. He wrote over one thousand poems; eight volumes of short stories; almost two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; and many books and essays on philosophy, religion, education and social topics. Aside from words and drama, his other great love was music, Bengali style. He composed more than two thousand songs, both the music and lyrics. Two of them became the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. In 1929 he even began painting. Many of his paintings can be found in museums today, especially in India, where he is considered the greatest literary figure of India of all times.
Tagore was not only a creative genius, he was a great man and friend to many. For instance, he was also a good friend from childhood to the great Indian Physicist, Bose. He was educated and quite knowledgeable of Western culture, especially Western poetry and Science. This made him a remarkable person, one of the first of our planet to combine East and West, and ancient and modern knowledge. Tagore had a good grasp of modern - post-Newtonian - physics, and was well able to hold his own in a debate with Einstein in 1930 on the newly emerging principles of quantum mechanics and chaos. His meetings and tape recorded conversations with his contemporaries such Albert Einstein and H.G. Wells, stand as cultural landmarks, and show the brilliance of this great man. Although Tagore is a superb representative of his country - India - the man who wrote its national anthem - his life and works go far beyond his country. He is truly a man of the whole Earth, a product of the best of both traditional Indian, and modern Western cultures. The School of Wisdom is proud to have him as part of its heritage. He exemplifies the ideals important to us of Goodness, Meaningful Work, and World Culture.
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This all suddenly changed in 1912. He then returned to England for the first time since his failed attempt at law school as a teenager. Now a man of 51, his was accompanied by his son. On the way over to England he began translating, for the first time, his latest selections of poems, Gitanjali, into English. Almost all of his work prior to that time had been written in his native tongue of Bengali. He decided to do this just to have something to do, with no expectation at all that his first time translation efforts would be any good. He made the handwritten translations in a little notebook he carried around with him and worked on during the long sea voyage from India. Upon arrival, his son left his father"s brief case with this notebook in the London subway. Fortunately, an honest person turned in the briefcase and it was recovered the next day. Tagore"s one friend in England, a famous artist he had met in India, Rothenstein, learned of the translation, and asked to see it. Reluctantly, with much persuasion, Tagore let him have the notebook. The painter could not believe his eyes. The poems were incredible. He called his friend, W.B. Yeats, and finally talked Yeats into looking at the hand scrawled notebook.
The rest, as they say, is history. Yeats was enthralled. He later wrote the introduction to Gitanjali when it was published in September 1912 in a limited edition by the India Society in London. Thereafter, both the poetry and the man were an instant sensation, first in London literary circles, and soon thereafter in the entire world. His spiritual presence was awesome. His words evoked great beauty. Nobody had ever read anything like it. A glimpse of the mysticism and sentimental beauty of Indian culture were revealed to the West for the first time. Less than a year later, in 1913, Rabindranath received the Nobel Prize for literature. He was the first non-westerner to be so honored. Overnight he was famous and began world lecture tours promoting inter-cultural harmony and understanding. In 1915 he was knighted by the British King George V. When not traveling he remained at his family home outside of Calcutta, where he remained very active as a literary, spiritual and social-political force.
In 1919, following the Amritsar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by British troops, Sir Tagore renounced his Knighthood. Although a good friend of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, most of the time Tagore stayed out of politics. He was opposed to nationalism and miltiarism as a matter of principle, and instead promoted spiritual values and the creation of a new world culture founded in multi-culturalism, diversity and tolerance. He served as a spiritual and creative beacon to his countrymen, and indeed, the whole world. He used the funds from his writing and lecturing to expand upon the school he had founded in 1901 now known as Visva Bharati . The alternative to the poor system of education imposed by the British, combined the best of traditional Hindu education with Western ideals. Tagore"s multi-cultural educational efforts were an inspiration to many, including his friend, Count Hermann Keyserling of Estonia. Count Keyserling founded his own school in 1920 patterned upon Tagore"s school, and the ancient universities which existed in Northern India under Buddhist rule over 2,000 years ago under the name School of Wisdom. Rabindranath Tagore led the opening program of the School of Wisdom in 1920, and participated in several of its programs thereafter.
Rabindranath Tagore"s creative output tells you a lot about this renaissance man. The variety, quality and quantity are unbelievable. As a writer, Tagore primarily worked in Bengali, but after his success with Gitanjali, he translated many of his other works into English. He wrote over one thousand poems; eight volumes of short stories; almost two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; and many books and essays on philosophy, religion, education and social topics. Aside from words and drama, his other great love was music, Bengali style. He composed more than two thousand songs, both the music and lyrics. Two of them became the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. In 1929 he even began painting. Many of his paintings can be found in museums today, especially in India, where he is considered the greatest literary figure of India of all times.
Tagore was not only a creative genius, he was a great man and friend to many. For instance, he was also a good friend from childhood to the great Indian Physicist, Bose. He was educated and quite knowledgeable of Western culture, especially Western poetry and Science. This made him a remarkable person, one of the first of our planet to combine East and West, and ancient and modern knowledge. Tagore had a good grasp of modern - post-Newtonian - physics, and was well able to hold his own in a debate with Einstein in 1930 on the newly emerging principles of quantum mechanics and chaos. His meetings and tape recorded conversations with his contemporaries such Albert Einstein and H.G. Wells, stand as cultural landmarks, and show the brilliance of this great man. Although Tagore is a superb representative of his country - India - the man who wrote its national anthem - his life and works go far beyond his country. He is truly a man of the whole Earth, a product of the best of both traditional Indian, and modern Western cultures. The School of Wisdom is proud to have him as part of its heritage. He exemplifies the ideals important to us of Goodness, Meaningful Work, and World Culture.
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Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Greatest writer in modern Indian literature, Bengali poet, novelist, educator, and an early advocate of Independence for India. Tagaore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Two years later he was awarded the knighthood, but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against the Massacre of Amritsar, where British troops killed some 400 Indian demonstrators. Tagore"s influence over Gandhi and the founders of modern India was enormous, but his reputation in the West as a mystic has perhaps mislead his Western readers to ignore his role as a reformer and critic of colonialism.
"When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose touch of the one in the play of the many." (from Gitanjali)
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Tagore was not only a creative genius, he was a great man and friend to many. For instance, he was also a good friend from childhood to the great Indian Physicist, Bose. He was educated and quite knowledgeable of Western culture, especially Western poetry and Science. This made him a remarkable person, one of the first of our planet to combine East and West, and ancient and modern knowledge. Tagore had a good grasp of modern - post-Newtonian - physics, and was well able to hold his own in a debate with Einstein in 1930 on the newly emerging principles of quantum mechanics and chaos. His meetings and tape recorded conversations with his contemporaries such Albert Einstein and H.G. Wells, stand as cultural landmarks, and show the brilliance of this great man. Although Tagore is a superb representative of his country - India - the man who wrote its national anthem - his life and works go far beyond his country. He is truly a man of the whole Earth, a product of the best of both traditional Indian, and modern Western cultures. The School of Wisdom is proud to have him as part of its heritage. He exemplifies the ideals important to us of Goodness, Meaningful Work, and World Culture.