RABINDRANATH TAGORE's : GITANJALI

Gitanjali
Song Offerings
A collection of prose translations
made by the author from the original Bengali
With an introduction by W. B. YEATS

Gitanjali (Bangla Gitanjoli) is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations, by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.

The word gitanjoli is composed from "git", song, and "anjoli", offering, and thus means - "An offering of songs"; but the word for offering, anjoli, has a strong devotional connotation, so the title may also be interpreted as "prayer offering of song".

The poems of Gitanjali express a largely metaphysical outlook, talking about a union with the "supreme"; but like much western poetry that explores similar themes, the language suggests the union of two earthly lovers. This type of anthropomorphic depiction of celestial love is quite common in the Vaishnava literature of India since the 12th c.