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Rabindranath Tagore. Brandon French. রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর. Rabindranath Tagore From: Calcutta, Bengal, British India 7 May 1861–7 August 1941. Early Life. A Pirali Brahmin. Tagore is an anglicized form of Thākur . Brahmin are the upper class within the Hindu caste system.
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Rabindranath Tagore Brandon French
রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর Rabindranath Tagore From: Calcutta, Bengal, British India 7 May 1861–7 August 1941
Early Life • A Pirali Brahmin. Tagore is an anglicized form of Thākur. • Brahmin are the upper class within the Hindu caste system. • Rabindranath began writing poetry as early as eight years old. • His first published works were under the pseudonym Bhānusimha (Sun Lion).
The Bengali Polymath • Wrote in all genres of literature: poetry, novels, novellas, short stories, dance-dramas and essays • Created art in the form of oil paintings and pencil sketching • Composed music which are still heard today. Both the Indian and Bangladeshi national anthems use his music, Jana GanaMana and Amar Shonar Bangla respectively.
Background • Tagore lived in British India and travelled extensively throughout his long life • He spoke vehemently against nationalism which was dramatically on the rise during his lifetime • Met with many influential figures of his time; including Albert Einstein, William Butler Yeats, Benito Mussolini, Reza Shah Pahlavi, Robert Frost, and H.G. Wells
Poetry: Weariness and The Gardener • Forgive me my weariness O LordShould I ever lag behindFor this heart that this day trembles soAnd for this pain, forgive me, forgive me, O LordFor this weakness, forgive me O Lord,If perchance I cast a look behindAnd in the day's heat and under the burning sunThe garland on the platter of offering wilts,For its dull pallor, forgive me, forgive me O Lord. • Who are you, reader, reading my poems an hundred years hence?I cannot send you one single flower from this wealth of the spring, one single streak of gold from yonder clouds.Open your doors and look abroad.From your blossoming garden gather fragrant memories of the vanished flowers of an hundred years before.In the joy of your heart may you feel the living joy that sang one spring morning, sending its glad voice across an hundred years.
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas • Malayan Muslim philosopher • Focuses on: • Sufism • Cosmology • Metaphysics • Malay Language and Literature
What Would He Be Like Today? • Political Activist • Likely against American undeclared wars of aggression • Would likely speak out against Islamic terror organizations, especially those that target civilians • Active writer, poet, and artist • Head of major Indian university
I'm lost in the middle of my birthday. I want my friends, their touch, with the earth's last love. I will take life's final offering, I will take the human's last blessing. Today my sack is empty. I have given completely whatever I had to give. In return if I receive anything—some love, some forgiveness—then I will take it with me when I step on the boat that crosses to the festival of the wordless end.