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Rabindranath Tagore’s Poetry and the Lessons Learned

rabindranath tagore's poetry

On the 159th Birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, we remember him. And his beautiful poetry that gave us meaningful lessons and so much more to our lives.

Rabindranath Tagore’s Poetry
Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore’s attainments are such that one can always gain benefit and life lessons through his poetry, novels, and other works. Through his work, Tagore depicted his belief in humanity. Tagore’s poetry stressed about compassion and always believed in helping others. He got his strength in writing from the sense of belongingness towards the culture of Bengal.

Rabindranath Tagore’s writings had elements of folk culture and gave us life lessons as his lyrical gifts made way for great poetry.

To celebrate his birthday, here are a few lessons learned from Rabindranath Tagore’s poetry related to death, to commemorate his life:

1. Death is only the end of a chapter.

“Say not in grief that she is no more
But say in thankfulness that she was
A death is not the extinguishing of a light,
But the putting out of the lamp
Because the dawn has come.”

Say Not in Grief

Tagore was a benevolent poet who was fascinated by death. He often wrote about the grief that followed with the sad truth of life. The only way for him to move forward in his life became by putting his thoughts on paper. Through this poem, Rabindranath Tagore taught us the lesson of keeping our departed souls in our hearts in gratuity. He emphasizes how death does not represent the end of our journey but only the end of a chapter. here, the lines ‘putting out of the lamp because the dawn has come’ suggests how death only takes a person away physically but not spiritually.

2. Surrender ourselves to the truth of life that is death.

O thou the last fulfillment of life,
Death, my death, come and whisper to me!
Day after day I have kept watch for thee;
for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life.
All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love
have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy.
One final glance from thine eyes
and my life will be ever thine own.
The flowers have been woven
and the garland is ready for the bridegroom.
After the wedding the bride shall leave her home
and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night

Death

Tagore had witnessed enough deaths of his loved ones. As a result, Tagore became fascinated with death. Death became a familiar part of Tagore’s life at one point. In the poem, Tagore accepts death as his end as it is whispering to him to leave. He uses a metaphor of ‘wedding’ as what life after death may look like. He expresses his contentment with his life through the poem. Readers can pick how one must learn to be content with their lives as death approaches without calling.

3. Live life to its fullest by accepting Death as a part of it.

“If to leave this world be as real as to love it—then there must be a meaning in the meeting and parting of life.

If that love were deceived in death, then the canker of this deceit would eat into all things, and the stars would shrivel and grow black.”

Song 53 (Fruit Gatherings)

We are all inclined to know more about the meaning of life and death as we grow old. In this poem, Tagore questioned the link between death and existence together. Life is haunted by death at all times. It is always present to disturb the flow of our lives. In other words, there also lies a harmony between death and life, if we choose to ignore death as a part of it, there are chances of becoming brood over it. Therefore, one must always accept the truth of death and choose to nurture our existence.

To know more about the work of Rabindranath Tagore, you can visit Tagore Web. It is a collection of his works.

By Navya Joshi
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