Review of Reviews, 1/10/13. 



LEADING ARTICLES. 



Soi 



soul in a continuous stream, assuming 

 all different forms in its windings from 

 the gross to the spiritual, from the 

 known to the unknown, from the finite 

 to the infinite. He interprets love in all 

 its multiform expressions — the love of 

 mother, of son, husband, wife, lover, 

 beloved, patriot, of the Dionysian, 

 nature-drunk, and of the God-frenzied. 

 Each and every one of these he portrays 

 with his characteristic softness of touch 

 that recalls the lyrics of Theophile 

 Gautier, and with the exquisite felicity 

 of Shelley and Keats." 



His gospel is not the gospel of renun- 

 ciation. The passionless bliss of the re- 

 ligious devotee is to him but a pale 

 shadow of love that is triumphant. He 

 says in one of his poems : 



" My salvation shall never come 

 through renunciation. I shall enjoy the 

 triumph of salvation amidst the innu- 

 merable bondages of this world. 

 My Maya will evolve itself into M/ik/i, 

 and my love will transform itself into 

 adoration." 



Mr. Roy writes concerning Mr. W. B. 

 Yeats' conception of Tagore's single 

 poetic theme- — " the love of God." 



"In his poem, 'The Infinite Love,' 

 Rabindranath Tagore, who combines in 

 his poetry the idealistic nights of Shel- 

 ley, the luxuriant imagery of Keats, the 

 exalted beauty of Tennyson, and the 

 spiritual fervour of Thomas a Kempis, 

 strikes the dominant note of his life and 

 work, both of which have been tremen- 

 dously influenced by the sublime philo- 

 sophy and the eloquent natural beauties 

 of India. The poem, as translated by 

 the poet himself, reads : — 



I have ever loved thee in a hundred forms 



and times, 

 Age after age, in birth following birth. 

 The chain of songs that my fond heart did 



weave 

 Thou graciously didst take round thy neck, 

 Age after age, in birth following birth. 



When I listened to the tales of the primitive 



past, 

 The love-pangs of the far-distant times, 

 The meetings and partings of the ancient 



ages — 

 I see thy form gathering light 

 Through the dark dimness of Eternity 

 And appearing as a star ever fixed in the 



memory of the ALL. 



We two have come floating by the twin cur- 

 rents of love 



That well up from the inmost heart of the 

 Beginningless. 



RABINDRANATH TAGORE. 



We two have played in the lives of myriad 



lovers 

 In tearful solitude of sorrow 

 In tremulous shyness of sweet union. 

 In old, old love ever renewing its life. 



The enrolling flood of the love eternal 

 Hath at last found its perfect final course. 

 All the joys and sorrows and longings of 



the heart, 

 All the memories of the moments of ecstasy. 

 All the love-lyrics of poets of all climes and 



times 

 Have come from the everywhere 

 And gathered in one single love at thy 



feet. 



Writing of him in the Quarterly Re- 

 view, Mr. S. G. Dunn says :- 



It is indeed a memorable achievement for 

 one whose native language is Bengali to at- 

 tain, as the author has attained, an English 

 style, which combines at once the feminine 

 grace of poetry with the virile power of 

 prose. For some generations an education 

 in English literature has been given to the 

 natives of India. . . . 



But those who are discouraged by the poor 

 results, as they appear to them, of our Eng- 

 lish education in India may take some com- 

 fort from this book ; as those who have trusted 

 that, from the contact of the East and West 

 in matters intellectual, some now thing of 

 worth and beauty would arise may see here 

 some justification of their hope. . . . 



Surely, if it i.s the mark of a great poet 

 that he should speak with a language all his 

 own, appealing to the men of his own land 

 by the familiarity of the images he uses, and 

 to the men of every land by the indubitable 

 truth and beauty of what he says, it is no 

 crude enthusiasm to call Tagore a great poet. 



