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Primary sourceBook1910

Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore · 1910

The original 1910 Bengali collection of devotional song-poems by Tagore, the basis for his Nobel Prize-winning English translation.

This is Tagore's original Bengali collection, the source material behind the English translation that won him the Nobel Prize.

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Title page of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats. Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1913.
Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali, 1910 (Bengali original).

About this source

What it is

Gitanjali is a collection of 157 Bengali poems by Rabindranath Tagore, published on 4 August 1910. Many of the poems were later set to music as Rabindra Sangeet. Tagore later translated 53 of these poems, along with many others, into English prose for the 1912 volume Song Offerings.

Why it matters

Gitanjali is considered the heart of Tagore's spiritual and devotional poetry, exploring themes of love, longing and the tension between material desire and spiritual devotion. Its English translation brought Tagore the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first non-European laureate. The work is part of the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works.

Look closer

  • What does the word "Gitanjali" (song offering) suggest about the purpose of these poems?
  • Why do you think these poems were later turned into songs?
  • How might reading the original Bengali differ from reading an English translation?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rabindranath Tagore on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the book Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats, published by Macmillan and Co., London, 1913.Book

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Song Offerings

Rabindranath Tagore · 1912

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore leaving a building, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

Primary source

Tagore Leaves the Sigtuna Foundation

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore standing with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

Primary source

Tagore with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Piano sheet music score titled 'Jana Gana Mana' by Rabindranath Tagore, in D minor/F major key with 4/4 time, tempo 96, two staves (treble clef) with dynamics like f, p, ff and a fermata at the end.Document

Primary source

Jana Gana Mana

Rabindranath Tagore · 11 December 1911

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore arriving at a building with several other people, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

Primary source

Tagore Comes to the Sigtuna Foundation

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

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