Rabindranath Tagore

The Fugitive (Cosimo Classics Biography) Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was born to a Brahmin family in Calcutta and through his writings became the literary voice of India. He developed a following for his work in Bengali, but he became a worldwide sensation after the English translation of his poem Gitanjali caught the attention of W. B. Yeats. He toured the world and became known for his spiritual and artistic presence and global views that bridged the East and West. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, the first non-Western writer to achieve such an honor. In addition to poetry, Tagore also wrote short stories, plays, novels, and essays, and many of his paintings hang in museums. He also founded a school, Visva Bharati, which combined Hindu and Western influences. Tagore loved music, and two of his songs became the national anthems for India and Bangladesh. The Fugitive is one example of his artistic powers: We came hither together, friend, and now at the cross-roads I stop to bid you farewell. Your path is wide and straight before you, but my call comes up by ways from the unknown. I shall follow wind and cloud; I shall follow the stars to where day breaks behind the hills; I shall follow lovers who, as they walk, twine their days into a wreath on a single thread of song, "I love."