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REVIEW OF REV1L 11 S. 



October 1. 1913 



INDIA'S GREATEST LIVING POET. 



Hie East and West meet in deep and 

 mutual apprecial the supreme lite- 



rary of the Hindu singer, Rabin- 



dranath Tagore, India's greatest lyric 

 poet and spiritual and patriotic leader. 

 Mr. Tagore is at the present time in 

 America, where already he has gained a 

 large constituency of admirers, although 

 but a comparatively small portion of his 

 work is available in translation. 



His influence upon India for the last 

 thirty years has been enormous ; he has 

 practically reconstructed the rational 

 ideals of the masses through a wide dis- 

 semination of his poetry. 



The poet was born in i860 and was 

 carefully trained and educated by a 

 spiritually minded father who believed 

 the " school of nature " to be superior 

 to the " walls of the classroom." 



In a retreat in the snow-covered Hima- 

 layas, where he might be continually im- 

 pressed by the nobility of the great 

 mountains, Tagore learned " English, 

 Sanskrit, Bengali, and in the sciences, 

 botany and astronomy." At the age of 

 seventeen he was taken to Europe and 

 there " perfected his knowledge of Eng- 

 lish and acquired a lucid prose style 

 which few have equalled in India." 



Mr. Basanta Koomar Roy, in the 

 Open Court, gives a complete and satis- 

 factory outline of Tagore's life and 

 literary accomplishments. Of his an- 

 cestry he writes : — 



If family tradition has anything to 

 do with culture, then Rabindranath has 

 nothing to complain of. I te was born 

 in the illustrious Thakur, anglicised into 

 Tagore, family which has loomed high 

 in the horizon of the intellectual and 

 social life of India ever since the tenth 

 century. Amongst the Tagores arc 

 counted men like Prosonno Koomar Ta- 

 gore, a landowner, a lawyer of great 

 reputation, an editor, a writer on legal 

 and educational subjects, founder and 

 president of the British India Associa- 

 tion ; Raja Sir Sourindra Mohun Ta 

 gore, undoubtedly one of the highest 

 musical authorities in India, the foun 

 of the Bengal Musi< S< hooJ and the 

 Bengal Academy of Music, and author 

 of many volumes on Hindu music and 



musical instruments; Mr. Abanindra- 

 11.1t li I agore, a distinguished painter, 

 and an undisputed leader in the Hindu 

 art revival ; Maharajah Ramanath Ta- 

 gore, brother of our poet's grandfather, 

 a political leader and writer ; Dwara- 

 kanath Tagore, the grandfather of the 

 poet, a landlord, a founder of the Land- 

 holders' Society, a philanthropist, a 

 social reformer, pre-eminently an agitator 

 against the suttee, an ardent worker for 

 the ' identification of the feelings and 

 interests of the Indians with their gov- 

 ernment,' anxious to ' strengthen the 

 bond which unites India with Great 

 Britain.' 



' It was in such a family — a family 

 that combined culture with wealth and 

 leisure, that Rabindranath first saw the 

 light of day. It is said that born poets 

 are generally handsome. Rabindranath 

 was no exception to the general rule. He 

 has long been famous in India both for 

 his poetry and beauty. Indeed, his 

 youthful portraits bear a striking re- 

 semblance to the best pictures of the 

 poet of Galilee who wrote not a single 

 verse, but who hallowed the world with 

 the majestic poetry of his life and say- 

 ings. The Hindu poet's flowing hair ; 

 his broad, un furrowed forehead ; his 

 bright, black, magnetic eyes, chiselled 

 nose, firm but gentle chin, delicate sen- 

 sit ive hands, his sweet voice, pleasant 

 smile, keen sense of humour, and his 

 innate refinement, make him a man of 

 rare and charming personality. To look 

 at him is to notice the true embodiment 

 of the artist." 



Tagore is primarily a poet, but his 

 versatility is so great that his genius 

 finds expression in many channels. 



' To name a few of his activites and 

 accomplishments: he is a profound 

 philosopher, a spiritual and patriotic 

 leader, an historical investigator, a 

 smger and composer, an able editor 

 (having edited four different magazines, 

 Sadhana, Bangadarsan, Bharati and 

 Tattwabodhini\ a far-sighted educator, 

 and a kind of considerate administrator 

 of his vast ' Zamindary ' estate. But he 

 is, above all, the poet— the poet of love. 

 Love flows from his heart, mind and 



