Gitanjali is a collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali writer who received the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature primarily on behalf of this volume. Considering it was published just three years earlier, that is quite a distinctive recognition of achievement.
The poems in this collection are mostly short works of verse told from a first-person perspective. Based pm ancient lyrical verse, the overarching themes of the collection deal with love in all its multiple and myriad forms. These are not love poems in the traditional sense, however, like the sonnets of Shakespeare or Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The poems are expressions of a grander, mystical, and encompassing passion. As such, explicit mention of certain objects generally tends to be symbols representing metaphorical meaning that goes well beyond the literal.
For instance, the very opening line of the very first poem in the collection contains the line “This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.” The vessel is not simply a synonym for a ship. It is a rich symbol filled with meaning that becomes a metaphor for emptiness in man’s life without some sense of greater meaning and purpose. Thus, right from its opening words, the poems in this collection stake out a message of mysticism. The imagery of emptiness that the speaker seeks to fill and which can only be filled through faith can be found throughout.
In poem 15, the speaker announces that he has come to sing songs, asserting “In this hall of thine I have a corner seat.” The songs he sings are songs of worship and dedication to a higher being. The hall is life itself in which he recognizes he plays just a small part within the overall scope of things. But this is the message that the poems repeat over and over. One must recognize with humility one’s place alongside others while at the same realizing that nothing has meaning without understanding that there is a greater power beyond even the most important person.
As with most mystical poetry, the time comes when it must be admitted that this awareness and understanding is not always easy. Poem 39 starts with the speaker observing, “When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.” This is a metaphorical rendering of withstanding heartbreak and not giving up. Such poems can be taken on a purely literary level as a love poem sent from one person to another. Beneath that meaning, however, is the important subtext. One cannot give up on finding a greater meaning beyond the world around us simply because it has become hard to maintain faith and belief. The speaker asserts, that it is precisely at the lowest point farthest away from devotion that faith is needed the most and when holding onto the belief results in the most overpowering reward.
As the book progresses, this reward for maintaining faith becomes demonstrable. Poem 56 is an example in which the speaker cries out that he is filled with joy because his faith has been recognized. He is moved to ask, “O thou lord of all heavens, where would be thy love if I were not?” The verse goes on to suggest that the speaker has become a partner to his lord in sharing the wealth. The wealth is not monetary, but an abundance of love that cannot be enjoyed without belief and acceptance.
The difficulty of the mystic for whom faith and devotion mean everything and whose life is spent in pursuit of this becomes the climax of the collection in Poem 102. The speaker boasts of coming to know his god. People recognize the power of god in his songs and his art, but he cannot answer their question “Who is he?” Perhaps the most telling image in the entire collection is expressed in this poem in which those asking this question also ask the speaker what his songs and his art mean. These are also questions he cannot answer. They turn away with scornful smiles and leave him fully embraced by the traditional image of the mystic as half-crazy. But at the same time, god is also smiling. It is not described what kind of smile it is nor does the speaker offer suggestions on what the smile may mean.
This image is ultimately the meaning of the entire collection compressed down into one concept. In a collection that represents the path pursued by any mystic who may claim to speak to god but cannot prove he is heard by any other, understanding is beside the point. If god understands the mystic and the mystic accepts that god loves him, others don't need to understand him. It is only necessary that the mystic spread the word of his understanding. This necessity is embodied in the very existence of Gitanjali.
