Selected Poems of Tagore (Gitanjali. The Ferry Crossing)

Author: Zhong Lei, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: A classic work that brought Tagore the Nobel Prize, captivating the world with its beautiful melodies, soft colors, and novel rhythms. The Imagist poet Ezra Pound, upon reading Gitanjali, exclaimed: "All one hundred poems in the collection could be sung. The melody and lyrics are perfectly integrated. It seems that Eastern music is far more adept at achieving this." It is noteworthy that the accessible brilliance of the impromptu, concise phrases is particularly striking. Sometimes, in lines like "Morning holds a golden basket in its right hand," we seem to glimpse the profound serenity of the ancient Greeks, a spirit that overcomes all. We suddenly discover our new Greece. As a sense of calm returns to Europe before the Renaissance, it makes me feel that a quiet presence has come to our mechanical clamor." You elevate my life, and in your eyes, this is a joy. This fragile cup, you constantly empty and fill it with new life. A small reed flute, you carry it over mountains and hills, blowing melodies that are never repeated from its pipes. Your immortal touch with both hands melts my small heart into boundless joy, emitting tunes that cannot be expressed in words. Your infinite gifts so obsessively pour into my small hands. Time has long passed, yet you still pour, and my hands are always left with space to be filled.
From the selected poems in this book, we can deeply feel how this great Indian poet loves his country with its long-standing and excellent culture, loves the peace-loving and democratic laborers in the country, and loves the magnificent and beautiful mountains and rivers. Between the lines of these poems, we see Indian women with lanterns and jars, their scarves fluttering; Indian workers and farmers sweating hard on the fields and roads; Indian musicians playing lutes and flutes in gardens and ferry crossings; Indian children jumping and laughing along the coast with the waves; and the thunder and rain of tropical regions, the dense trees and abundant flowers. We seem to hear the dense raindrops and smell the rich fragrance of the flowers.