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{{short description|Collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore}}
{{Short description|Collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore}}
{{About|the collection of poems by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]||Geetanjali (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the collection of poems by [[Rabindranath Tagore]]||Geetanjali (disambiguation)}}
__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__
{{Infobox book
{{Infobox book
| name = Gitanjali
| name             = Gitanjali
| image =  
| image             =  
| alt =  
| alt               =  
| caption =  
| caption           = Title page
| author = {{ubl|[[Rabindranath Tagore]]}}
| author           = {{ubl|[[Rabindranath Tagore]]}}
| title_orig = গীতাঞ্জলি
| title_orig       = গীতাঞ্জলি
| translator =  
| translator       =  
| illustrator =  
| illustrator       =  
| cover_artist =  
| cover_artist     =  
| country = [[India]]
| country           = [[British Raj|British India]]
| language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| language         = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]
| series =  
| series           =  
| subject = Devotion to God
| subject           = Devotion to God
| genre = Poem
| genre             = Poem
| publisher =  
| publisher         =  
| pub_date = 1910
| pub_date         = {{Date and age|df=yes|1910|08|04}}
| english_pub_date = 1912
| english_pub_date = {{Date and age|df=yes|1912}}
| media_type =  
| media_type       =  
| pages = 104
| pages             = 104
| isbn =  
| isbn             =  
| oclc =  
| oclc             =  
| dewey =  
| dewey             =  
| congress =  
| congress         =  
| preceded_by =  
| preceded_by       =  
| followed_by =  
| followed_by       =
| wikisource        =  
}}
}}
'''''Gitanjali''''' ({{lang-bn|গীতাঞ্জলি|lit='Song offering'}}, {{IPA-bn|git̪ɑːnd͡ʒoli|IPA}}) is a collection of [[poems]] by the [[Bengali poet]] [[Rabindranath Tagore]]. Tagore received the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]], largely for the English translation, ''[[Song Offerings]]''.
It is part of the [[UNESCO Collection of Representative Works]]. Its central theme is devotion, and its motto is 'I am here to sing thee songs' (No. XV).


== History ==
'''''Gitanjali''''' ({{langx|bn|গীতাঞ্জলি|lit='Song offering'}}) is a collection of [[poems]] by the [[Bengali poet]] [[Rabindranath Tagore]]. Tagore received the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 1913, for its English translation, ''[[Song Offerings]]'', making him the first non-European  and the first [[Asian people|Asian]] and the only [[Indian people|Indian]] to receive this honour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gitanjali|title=Gītāñjali &#124; poetry by Tagore|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>


The original [[Bengali language|Bengali]] collection of 156/157 poems was published on August 14, 1910.
It is part of the [[UNESCO Collection of Representative Works]]. Its central theme is devotion, and its motto is "I am here to sing thee songs" (No. XV).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summary of Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore{{!}} Kaitholil.com |url=https://kaitholil.com/blog/summary-of-gitanjali-rabindranath-tagore |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=kaitholil.com |archive-date=2022-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210123140/https://kaitholil.com/blog/summary-of-gitanjali-rabindranath-tagore |url-status=dead }}</ref>


== Reworking in other languages ==
==History==
The collection by Tagore, originally written in Bengali, comprises 157 poems, many of which have been turned into songs or [[Rabindra Sangeet]]. The original [[Bengali language|Bengali]] collection was published on 4 August 1910. The translated version, ''Gitanjali: Song Offerings'', was published in November 1912 by the [[India Society]] of London. It contained translations of 53 poems from the original ''Gitanjali'', as well as 50 other poems extracted from Tagore's ''Achalayatan'', ''Gitimalya'', ''[[Naibedya]]'', ''[[Kheya]]'', and more. Overall, ''Gitanjali: Song Offerings'' consists of 103 prose poems of Tagore's own English translations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhowmick |first=Abira |date=2023-08-27 |title=When Worlds Collide: Tagore, Yeats, and the Phenomenon of Gitanjali |url=https://www.brainwareuniversity.ac.in/celebrating-tagore/when-worlds-collide-tagore-yeats-and-the-phenomenon-of-gitanjali/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=Celebrating Tagore - The Man, The Poet and The Musician |language=en-US}}</ref> The poems were based on medieval Indian lyrics of devotion with a common theme of love across most poems. Some poems also narrated a conflict between the [[Economic materialism|desire for materialistic possessions]] and spiritual longing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gitanjali|title=Gītāñjali &#124; poetry by Tagore|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore |url=https://sacred-texts.com/hin/tagore/gitnjali.htm |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref>
 
==Reworking in other languages==
{{Main article|Song Offerings}}
{{Main article|Song Offerings}}


The English ''Gitanjali'' or ''Song Offerings'' is a collection of 103 English [[prose poem]]s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gitanjali|title=Gītāñjali &#124; poetry by Tagore|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> which are Tagore's own English translations of his Bengali poems, and was first published in November 1912 by the [[Royal India Society|India Society]] in London. It contained translations of 53 poems from the original Bengali Gitanjali, as well as 50 other poems from his other works.<ref name="The Criterion">{{cite web|last=Ghosal|first=Sukriti|title=The Language of Gitanjali: the Paradoxical Matrix|url=http://www.the-criterion.com/V3/n2/Sukriti.pdf|work=The Criterion: An International Journal in English|access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> The translations were often radical, leaving out or altering large chunks of the poem and in one instance fusing two separate poems (song 95, which unifies songs 89,90 of ''Naivedya''). <ref name="GB">{{cite web|last=books.google.de|first=Sukriti|title=Gitanjali: Song Offerings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nEiLMy5hDsC&q=Gitanjali|access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref> The English ''Gitanjali'' became popular in the West, and was widely translated.<ref name="schoolofwisdom.com">{{cite web |author=Gitanjali: Selected Poems |url=http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali/ |title=Gitanjali: Selected Poems |publisher=School of Wisdom |date=2010-07-30 |access-date=2012-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721220852/http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali/ |archive-date=2012-07-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The English version of ''Gitanjali'' or ''Song Offerings/Singing Angel'' is a collection of 103 English [[prose poem]]s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gitanjali|title=Gītāñjali &#124; poetry by Tagore|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> which are Tagore's own English translations of his Bengali poems, first published in November 1912 by the [[Royal India Society|India Society]] in London. It contained translations of 53 poems from the original Bengali ''Gitanjali'', as well as 50 other poems from his other works.<ref name="The Criterion">{{cite web|last=Ghosal|first=Sukriti|title=The Language of Gitanjali: the Paradoxical Matrix|url=http://www.the-criterion.com/V3/n2/Sukriti.pdf|work=The Criterion: An International Journal in English|access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> The translations were often radical, leaving out or altering large chunks of the poem and in one instance fusing two separate poems (song 95, which unifies songs 89 and 90 of ''Naivedya'').<ref name="GB">{{cite book |via=Google Books |last=Sukriti|title=Gitanjali: Song Offerings |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-670-08542-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nEiLMy5hDsC&q=Gitanjali |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref> The English ''Gitanjali'' became popular in the West, and was widely translated.<ref name="schoolofwisdom.com">{{cite web |author=Gitanjali: Selected Poems |url=http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali/ |title=Gitanjali: Selected Poems |publisher=School of Wisdom |date=2010-07-30 |access-date=2012-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721220852/http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali/ |archive-date=2012-07-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
==See also==
* [[Stream of Life]], the ''Gitanjali'' poem #69, reworked by composer [[Garry Schyman]] as lyrics for the song "[[Stream of Life#In popular culture|Praan]]"


==References==
==References==
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*{{Wikisource-inline}}
*{{Wikisource-inline}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali}}
*[https://amargitanjali.com/ Gitanjali website]
{{Rabindranath Tagore |state=uncollapsed}}
{{Rabindranath Tagore |state=uncollapsed}}
 
<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.brainwareuniversity.ac.in/celebrating-tagore/when-worlds-collide-tagore-yeats-and-the-phenomenon-of-gitanjali/ | title=When Worlds Collide: Tagore, Yeats, and the Phenomenon of Gitanjali | date=27 August 2023 }}</ref>
[[Category:Poetry collections by Rabindranath Tagore]]
[[Category:Poetry collections by Rabindranath Tagore]]
[[Category:1910 poetry books]]
[[Category:1910 poetry books]]
[[Category:Bengali-language poems]]
[[Category:Poems in Bengali]]
[[Category:Bengali poetry collections]]
[[Category:Bengali poetry collections]]
[[Category:Bengali-language books]]

Latest revision as of 11:10, 15 March 2026


Gitanjali
Author
Original titleগীতাঞ্জলি
CountryBritish India
LanguageBengali
SubjectDevotion to God
Published in English
Template:Date and age
Pages104

Gitanjali (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.) is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, for its English translation, Song Offerings, making him the first non-European and the first Asian and the only Indian to receive this honour.[1]

It is part of the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works. Its central theme is devotion, and its motto is "I am here to sing thee songs" (No. XV).[2]

History[edit | edit source]

The collection by Tagore, originally written in Bengali, comprises 157 poems, many of which have been turned into songs or Rabindra Sangeet. The original Bengali collection was published on 4 August 1910. The translated version, Gitanjali: Song Offerings, was published in November 1912 by the India Society of London. It contained translations of 53 poems from the original Gitanjali, as well as 50 other poems extracted from Tagore's Achalayatan, Gitimalya, Naibedya, Kheya, and more. Overall, Gitanjali: Song Offerings consists of 103 prose poems of Tagore's own English translations.[3] The poems were based on medieval Indian lyrics of devotion with a common theme of love across most poems. Some poems also narrated a conflict between the desire for materialistic possessions and spiritual longing.[4][5]

Reworking in other languages[edit | edit source]

The English version of Gitanjali or Song Offerings/Singing Angel is a collection of 103 English prose poems,[6] which are Tagore's own English translations of his Bengali poems, first published in November 1912 by the India Society in London. It contained translations of 53 poems from the original Bengali Gitanjali, as well as 50 other poems from his other works.[7] The translations were often radical, leaving out or altering large chunks of the poem and in one instance fusing two separate poems (song 95, which unifies songs 89 and 90 of Naivedya).[8] The English Gitanjali became popular in the West, and was widely translated.[9]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Gītāñjali | poetry by Tagore". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  2. "Summary of Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore| Kaitholil.com". kaitholil.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-07-30.
  3. Bhowmick, Abira (2023-08-27). "When Worlds Collide: Tagore, Yeats, and the Phenomenon of Gitanjali". Celebrating Tagore - The Man, The Poet and The Musician. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  4. "Gītāñjali | poetry by Tagore". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  5. "Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore". sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  6. "Gītāñjali | poetry by Tagore". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  7. Ghosal, Sukriti. "The Language of Gitanjali: the Paradoxical Matrix" (PDF). The Criterion: An International Journal in English. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  8. Sukriti (2011). Gitanjali: Song Offerings. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-670-08542-2. Retrieved 8 April 2017 – via Google Books.
  9. Gitanjali: Selected Poems (2010-07-30). "Gitanjali: Selected Poems". School of Wisdom. Archived from the original on 2012-07-21. Retrieved 2012-07-11.

External links[edit | edit source]

[1]