Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, the cover

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GitanjaliRabindranath TagoreThe Library of Alexandria

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About this book

A lamp burns, a guest is expected, and a singer waits for a presence he cannot see.

In Gitanjali, Rabindranath Tagore gathers 103 short prose poems into a sustained prayer. The speaker addresses God as Master, King, Friend, Guest and Beloved. He speaks with joy, doubt and longing, asking what it means to give himself fully. The title means an offering of songs, and each poem adds to that offering.

The collection moves between inward reflection and the world of daily work. A singer is called away from a closed temple toward workers and farmers. Elsewhere, he prepares a house and lights a lamp for an absent guest. Rivers, monsoon rain, boats and road dust give shape to questions of faith, freedom and death.

What you’ll discover

The singer as vessel Meet a speaker who sees his gifts as something received, rather than something owned.
Beyond the temple doors Explore poems that seek divine presence among poor people, road workers and farmers.
The long-awaited guest Share the quiet tension of a prepared house, a burning lamp and an empty road.
Bengal in everyday images Follow rivers, flutes, harvests and rain through spiritual questions rooted in ordinary life.
Surrender without easy certainty Sit with poems that bring joy and doubt into the search for peace.

Who will love it

For readers who love quiet, reflective poetry, prayers not tied to one creed, and Indian literature, with themes of devotion, service, freedom and peace.

What’s inside

The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary

A Bengali poet offers songs to God
The singer finds he is only a vessel
God is found among the poor and the working
Longing, waiting and the guest at the door
Images, plain prose and the sound of songs
Freedom, death and the peace the book seeks

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15-minute summary: The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
Paperback: 6 × 9 in, 40 pages: 5,95 USD when you start free, 11,95 USD on its own.
Hardcover: 6 × 9 in, 40 pages: 12,95 USD when you start free, 18,95 USD on its own.
Large print paperback: 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Large print hardcover: 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.

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Poetry & Drama

Gitanjali

by Rabindranath Tagore · 1910

A singer offers his songs and his life to God in poems of joy, doubt, humility and freedom from fear.

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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6

A Bengali poet offers songs to God

Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta into a family of writers, musicians and reformers. He wrote poems, plays, stories, novels and essays, and he also composed thousands of songs. Many of the songs in Gitanjali were first made to be sung, and Bengali listeners still know them as music. That fact matters, because the poems began as melody before they became English prose.

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What is Gitanjali about?

Gitanjali is a collection of devotional poems addressed to God. The speaker offers his songs and life, waits for the divine, learns humility, and finds God among ordinary working people. It also reflects on freedom and on facing death calmly.

What does the word Gitanjali mean?

Gitanjali comes from Bengali words for song and offering. It can be understood as an offering of songs. The title shows that the poems are meant as gifts given to God, not as arguments or lessons.

Did Gitanjali win the Nobel Prize?

Tagore received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, and Gitanjali was the work that brought him to the attention of the Western world. He was the first non-European to receive the prize.

The author

Rabindranath Tagore

1861–1941 · Bengali poet and philosopher

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a Bengali poet and writer born in Calcutta, British India, where he also died. He lived in Bengal and founded a school at Santiniketan in 1901. He wrote poetry, stories, plays and essays. His Bengali collection Gitanjali appeared in 1910; his English version appeared in 1912.