Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2007 12:34:39 GMT -6
This thread is dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore (1861- 1941) known as Gurudev, who with his poetry, music, devotion and politic engagements provoked a cultural reform movement that culminated at the awakening of the Eastern and Western World. Indeed, Tagore and (to some degree) Gandhi, were both greatly responsible for the renaissance that took place between late 19 and early 20 century. In 1913 Tagore became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Nowadays, "Tagore's post-death impact can be felt through the many festivals held worldwide in his honor—examples include the annual Tagore Festival held in Urbana, Illinois in the United States."
Watch and delight:
Rabindranath Tagore - Documentary by Ray Part 1
Rabindranath Tagore - Documentary by Ray Part 2
(Part 2 has a sound problem that goes from 3:10 seconds to 4:01. the rest if fine.)
Rabindranath Tagore - Documentary by Ray Part 3
Here are some elements that influenced Tagore:
Tagore's poetry—which varied in style from classical formalism to the comic, visionary, and ecstatic—proceeds out a lineage established by 15th- and 16th-century Vaiṣṇava poets. Tagore was also influenced by the mysticism of the rishi-authors who—including Vyasa—wrote the Upanishads, the Bhakta-Sufi mystic Kabir, and Ramprasad.[60] Yet Tagore's poetry became most innovative and mature after his exposure to rural Bengal's folk music, which included ballads sung by Bāul folk singers—especially the bard Lālan Śāh.[61][62] These—which were rediscovered and popularised by Tagore—resemble 19th-century Kartābhajā hymns that emphasize inward divinity and rebellion against religious and social orthodoxy.[63][64]
During his Shilaidaha years, his poems took on a lyrical quality, speaking via the maner manus (the Bāuls' "man within the heart") or meditating upon the jivan devata ("living God within"). This figure thus sought connection with divinity through appeal to nature and the emotional interplay of human drama. Tagore used such techniques in his Bhānusiṃha poems (which chronicle the romanticism between Radha and Krishna), which he repeatedly revised over the course of seventy years.[65][66]
Later, Tagore responded to the (mostly) crude emergence of modernism and realism in Bengali literature by writing experimental works in the 1930s.[67] Examples works include Africa and Camalia, which are among the better known of his latter poems. He also occasionally wrote poems using Shadhu Bhasha (a Sanskritised dialect of Bengali); later, he began using Cholti Bhasha (a more popular dialect). Other notable works include Manasi, Sonar Tori (Golden Boat), Balaka (Wild Geese—the title being a metaphor for migrating souls),[68] and Purobi.
Sonar Tori's most famous poem—dealing with the ephemeral nature of life and achievement—goes by the same name; it ends with the haunting phrase "শূন্য নদীর তীরে রহিনু পড়ি / যাহা ছিল লয়ে গেল সোনার তরী" ("Shunno nodir tire rohinu poŗi / Jaha chhilo loe gêlo shonar tori"—"all I had achieved was carried off on the golden boat—only I was left behind."). Internationally, Gitanjali (Bengali: গীতাঞ্জলি) is Tagore's best-known collection, winning him his Nobel Prize.[69] Song VII (গীতাঞ্জলি 127) of Gitanjali:
"My song has put off her adornments. She has no pride of dress and decoration. Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers."
"My poet's vanity dies in shame before thy sight. O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet. Only let me make my life simple and straight, like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore#Poetry
Nowadays, "Tagore's post-death impact can be felt through the many festivals held worldwide in his honor—examples include the annual Tagore Festival held in Urbana, Illinois in the United States."
Watch and delight:
Rabindranath Tagore - Documentary by Ray Part 1
Rabindranath Tagore - Documentary by Ray Part 2
(Part 2 has a sound problem that goes from 3:10 seconds to 4:01. the rest if fine.)
Rabindranath Tagore - Documentary by Ray Part 3
Here are some elements that influenced Tagore:
Tagore's poetry—which varied in style from classical formalism to the comic, visionary, and ecstatic—proceeds out a lineage established by 15th- and 16th-century Vaiṣṇava poets. Tagore was also influenced by the mysticism of the rishi-authors who—including Vyasa—wrote the Upanishads, the Bhakta-Sufi mystic Kabir, and Ramprasad.[60] Yet Tagore's poetry became most innovative and mature after his exposure to rural Bengal's folk music, which included ballads sung by Bāul folk singers—especially the bard Lālan Śāh.[61][62] These—which were rediscovered and popularised by Tagore—resemble 19th-century Kartābhajā hymns that emphasize inward divinity and rebellion against religious and social orthodoxy.[63][64]
During his Shilaidaha years, his poems took on a lyrical quality, speaking via the maner manus (the Bāuls' "man within the heart") or meditating upon the jivan devata ("living God within"). This figure thus sought connection with divinity through appeal to nature and the emotional interplay of human drama. Tagore used such techniques in his Bhānusiṃha poems (which chronicle the romanticism between Radha and Krishna), which he repeatedly revised over the course of seventy years.[65][66]
Later, Tagore responded to the (mostly) crude emergence of modernism and realism in Bengali literature by writing experimental works in the 1930s.[67] Examples works include Africa and Camalia, which are among the better known of his latter poems. He also occasionally wrote poems using Shadhu Bhasha (a Sanskritised dialect of Bengali); later, he began using Cholti Bhasha (a more popular dialect). Other notable works include Manasi, Sonar Tori (Golden Boat), Balaka (Wild Geese—the title being a metaphor for migrating souls),[68] and Purobi.
Sonar Tori's most famous poem—dealing with the ephemeral nature of life and achievement—goes by the same name; it ends with the haunting phrase "শূন্য নদীর তীরে রহিনু পড়ি / যাহা ছিল লয়ে গেল সোনার তরী" ("Shunno nodir tire rohinu poŗi / Jaha chhilo loe gêlo shonar tori"—"all I had achieved was carried off on the golden boat—only I was left behind."). Internationally, Gitanjali (Bengali: গীতাঞ্জলি) is Tagore's best-known collection, winning him his Nobel Prize.[69] Song VII (গীতাঞ্জলি 127) of Gitanjali:
"My song has put off her adornments. She has no pride of dress and decoration. Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers."
"My poet's vanity dies in shame before thy sight. O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet. Only let me make my life simple and straight, like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore#Poetry