Gitanjali

by Rabindranath Tagore

Genres: Poetry
Rating:

Synopsis:

"Gitanjali", or Song Offerings, is a collection of poems translated by the author, Rabindranath Tagore, from the original Bengali. This collection won the Nobel prize for Tagore in 1913. This volume includes the original introduction by William Butler Yeats that accompanied the 1911 English language version. "Gitanjali" is a collection of over 100 inspirational poems by India's greatest poet.

Because I read Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (“Song Offerings”) via an app called Serial Reader, I’m not really sure if it was formatted the way it’s meant to be, and I couldn’t spot details like whether this is the translation done by the author, but all the same it was an enchanting collection of poetry that constantly had me highlighting lines here and there. It’s hard to choose any to share, especially because I don’t know if the translation is any good accuracy-wise — but definitely it’s something I’d like to return to, perhaps even have a copy of, and perhaps read more about in general (more context, maybe discussion of the translation, etc).

Bottom line is, it’s lovely: beautiful imagery, joyful, spiritual, thoughtful. There were few among the collection that I didn’t like at all, and many that spoke to me.

A very worthwhile read, all in all, and one I’m glad I stumbled upon.

Rating: 4/5