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Primary sourceBook1912

Gitanjali (Song Offerings)

Rabindranath Tagore · 1912

Tagore's own English prose translations of his Bengali poems, the collection that helped win him the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Tagore's own translation of his Bengali poems, the work that brought him the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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What it is

Gitanjali (Song Offerings) is a collection of poems originally written in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore and translated into English prose by Tagore himself. It was published in 1912 by Macmillan and Co. The text is available on Wikisource with an introduction describing the strong impression the poems made on English readers.

Why it matters

This collection is one of Tagore's most famous works and played a major role in bringing him international recognition, including the Nobel Prize in Literature. The introduction shows how unfamiliar English readers were with Tagore and Indian literary traditions before these translations appeared, highlighting the cultural bridge the book created.

Look closer

  • Why might Tagore have chosen prose rather than verse for his English translations?
  • What does the introduction's comparison to European poets suggest about how Western readers viewed Tagore's work?
  • What might be lost in translating poems from Bengali into English prose?

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

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.Book

Primary source

Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore · 1910

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

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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

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