a) Rabindranath Tagore, (i) ‘Where the mind is without fear’, trans.

William Radice;
Summary=

https://englicist.com/topics/where-the-mind-is-without-fear

Where the Mind is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore - Poem Analysis

‘Where the Mind is Without Fear’ by Rabindranath Tagore is a poem that expresses
the poet’s vision of an ideal nation, where people are free from fear, ignorance,
prejudice, and oppression. The poem is written as a prayer to God, asking him to
awaken India from its colonial subjugation and lead it to a state of freedom and
dignity.

The poem consists of 11 lines, each beginning with the word ‘where’, followed by a
description of a desirable quality or condition. The poet wishes for a nation where:

 The mind is without fear and the head is held high, implying courage and self-
respect.
 Knowledge is free, implying education and enlightenment for all.
 The world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls,
implying unity and harmony among people of different religions, castes, and
regions.
 Words come out from the depth of truth, implying honesty and integrity.
 Tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, implying hard work and
excellence.
 The clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of
dead habits, implying rationality and innovation over superstition and tradition.
 The mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action,
implying progress and expansion of ideas and actions under God’s guidance.
 Into that heaven of freedom, implying the ultimate goal of liberation and
happiness.

The poem ends with the poet’s plea to God, ‘let my country awake’, indicating his
hope and aspiration for a new dawn of freedom for India.

The poem was originally written in Bengali as ‘Prarthana’ (Prayer) and published in
1901. It was later translated by Tagore himself into English and included in his Nobel
Prize-winning collection ‘Gitanjali’ (Song Offerings) in 1912. The poem reflects
Tagore’s nationalist sentiments and his critique of British colonialism, which he saw
as a hindrance to India’s cultural and spiritual growth. The poem also reveals Tagore’s
humanist and universalist outlook, as he advocates for a nation that is based on the
values of peace, justice, and harmony, not only within India, but also with the rest of
the world.

(ii) ‘It hasn’t rained in my heart’, trans. FakrulAlam

https://www.englishliterature.info/2021/08/gitanjali-poem-40-
summary-and-analysis.html

I’m sorry, but there is no poem by Tagore with that exact title. However, I found a
poem that begins with a similar line: ‘The rain has held back for days and days, my
God, in my arid heart’. This is poem no. 40 in Tagore’s collection Gitanjali1. If you
are interested, I can provide a line by line explanation of that poem. Here it is:

 The rain has held back for days and days, my God, in my arid heart.
 o The poet addresses God and says that his heart is dry and barren, like a
land that has not received any rain for a long time. He implies that he is
spiritually thirsty and needs God’s grace and mercy to quench his soul.
 The horizon is fiercely naked - not the thinnest cover of a soft cloud, not the
vaguest hint of a distant cool shower.
o The poet describes the sky and the horizon as bare and empty, without
any sign of clouds or rain. He uses the words ‘fiercely’, ‘naked’,
‘thinnest’, and ‘vaguest’ to emphasize the extreme dryness and
hopelessness of his situation.
 Send thy angry storm, dark with death, if it is thy wish, and with lashes of
lightning startle the sky from end to end.
o The poet asks God to send his angry storm, which is dark and deadly, if
that is what God wants. He says that he is ready to face God’s wrath
and power, even if it means death. He also says that the storm will
startle the sky with lightning, suggesting that the storm will bring some
change and movement to the stagnant and silent sky.
 But call back, my lord, call back this pervading silent heat, still and keen and
cruel, burning the heart with dire despair.
o The poet pleads God to call back the silent heat, which is pervasive, still,
keen, and cruel. He says that the heat is burning his heart with dire
despair, implying that he is suffering from depression and hopelessness.
He prefers the storm over the heat, because the storm is at least a sign
of God’s presence and action, while the heat is a sign of God’s absence
and indifference.
 Let the cloud of grace bend low from above like the tearful look of the mother
on the day of the father’s wrath.
o The poet asks God to let the cloud of grace, which is God’s love and
compassion, bend low from above, like a mother who looks at her
children with tears in her eyes when the father is angry and scolding
them. He compares God to both a father and a mother, and shows his
preference for the mother, who is gentle and soothing, over the father,
who is harsh and frightening. He also implies that he is like a child who
needs God’s protection and care.

this poem is a prayer to God for divine inspiration and grace. The poet compares his heart to a
dry and barren land, where there is no sign of rain or clouds. He asks God to send his angry
storm, dark with death, and startle the sky with lightning, if that is his wish. But he also pleads
God to call back the silent heat, which burns his heart with despair, and let the cloud of grace
bend low from above, like the tearful look of a mother on the day of the father’s wrath. The
poem expresses the poet’s spiritual thirst and longing for God’s mercy. He uses the imagery of
rain and desert to convey his arid condition and his need for relief. He also contrasts the two
aspects of God: the wrathful father and the compassionate mother, and shows his preference for
the latter1.
Question answers
Why does Tagore in his poem ‘Where the mind is without fear’ describe India as a sleeping
country

Tagore describes India as a sleeping country because he wants to convey the idea that
India is not living up to its full potential and is suffering from the effects of colonial
oppression and backwardness. He hopes that his country will awake from its slumber
and realize its true identity and destiny as a free and progressive nation. He uses the
metaphor of sleep to contrast the current state of India with his vision of a new dawn
of freedom and enlightenment123

What does the imagery of storms and rain denote in ‘It hasn’t rained in
my heart' by Tagore

The imagery of storms and rain denote the poet’s desire for God’s grace and mercy in his dry and barren
heart. The poet uses the contrast between the harsh and violent storm and the gentle and soothing rain
to express his acceptance of God’s will and his preference for God’s compassion. The storm represents
God’s wrath and power, while the rain represents God’s love and blessing. The poet prays for both, but
he also asks God to let the cloud of grace bend low from above, like the tearful look of a mother on the
day of the father’s wrath1

How would you describe Tagore’s idea of divinity?

Tagore’s idea of divinity is complex and multifaceted. He believed in both a personal

God, who is the source of love and compassion, and a supreme reality, which is the
essence of all existence. He also saw divinity in nature, humanity, and art, as
expressions of God’s creativity and beauty. He wrote poems, songs, and prayers to
celebrate and communicate with the divine, and sought to realize his own spiritual
potential through self-knowledge and service1234