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Primary sourceBook1916

Stray Birds

Rabindranath Tagore · 1916

A collection of short English poems by Rabindranath Tagore, published in 1916.

Tagore composed these English poems himself, showing his mature poetic voice and global reach.

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Stray BirdsPDF · 108 pages
Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, 1916. Scanned copy, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a scanned copy of Stray Birds, a book of short poems written in English by Rabindranath Tagore, published by Macmillan in 1916. The frontispiece was illustrated in colour by Willy Pogany, and the book was dedicated to T. Hara of Yokohama.

Why it matters

The collection shows Tagore's later style of brief, aphorism-like poems, written directly in English rather than translated from Bengali. Its dedication to a figure in Japan points to Tagore's wide international connections and travels during this period of his life.

Look closer

  • What do the short, image-based poems suggest about how Tagore wanted readers to think and feel?
  • Why might Tagore dedicate this book to someone in Japan?
  • How might writing directly in English, rather than translating, change the way Tagore expressed his ideas?

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.

More Rabindranath Tagore sources

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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

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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

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

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