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In England, he could not spend
more than three months in London University, but he did a good
deal of reading—not the prescribed courses but literature that
gave him an understanding of human nature. He did not become a
barrister as the family had desired, but he found East and West
meet in friendship in his person.
Four Chapters
written in 1934, revolves around the freedom struggle and the
revolutionary movements in Bengal which were then considered
symbolic of courage, sacrifice and patriotic heroism.
Ila draws Atin
into a revolutionary group to which she belongs, and soon they
discover their love for each other, and also the flaws in the
revolutionary thought. Ila starts questioning the value of
violence to achieve their goal and raises issues of morality
against violence. Their love is confronted by the pledges they
have taken at the time of joining the revolutionary group.
Ultimately they perish under the weight of an ideology they
cannot discard, nor accept fully.
Tagore claims
it to be a love story and not a political novel. He describes
some passionate moments between the two lovers who are unable to
stand the pressure of what they have willingly accepted as their
path. However, the theme is relevant even today as it asserts
that good of men cannot be achieved by ruining others.
The poems
included in the five volumes have been rendered into English by
the poet himself. The collection represents the vision of Tagore
which is symbolic of delicate feelings on one hand, and on the
other lends a celestial quality to common occurrences. Some of
the poems are tales in verse, while some others reflect the
moods of the poet. Everyday situations such as dark clouds
floating in the sky, a river flowing serenely, a singing
mendicant, all attain a rare quality from the treatment they
receive from Tagore. The theme of love occurs in most of the
poems but some are strikingly different and reflect the poet’s
unending quest.
Each volume
begins with a verse from "Gitanjali", the work of the
poet that got him the Nobel Prize for Literature. At the end of
each volume are small but memorable quotes from the poet which
will delight the reader. Some of these are:
I touch God in
my song as the hill touches the far-away sea with its waterfall.
*
When God waits
for his temple to be built of love men bring stones.
*
The world
speaks to me in pictures, my soul answers in music.
*
I am able to
love my God
because he
gives me freedom to deny him.
*
The world has
kissed my soul with its pain,
asking for its
return in songs.
*
When death
comes and whispers to me
‘Thy days are
ended’
let me say to
him, ‘I have lived in love
and not in mere
time’
He will ask,
‘Will thy songs remain?’
I shall say, ‘I know not, but
this I know that of ten when I sang I found my eternity.’
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RUPA
and Company, which has already published some works of Tagore in
English in their series "Rabindra Rachnavali", have
now come out with these new volumes. "My Boyhood
Days", written in 1940, just a year before the poet’s
demise, constitutes memories of his early life. He looks back at
his childhood from the ripe old age of 80, recalls his reactions
to the world as he found it in his childhood, and at the same
time gives a glimpse of life in 19th century Bengal. The
prevailing social order, the family set up, the pattern of life
in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in these days, all float before your
eyes, portrayed by the sensitive pen of the Poet. You share the
fancies and fantasies woven by child Rabindranath, as he grows
up.
