The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-16
SOME NEW BOOKS.
a life Of p.b,.srans,n r.sere.

- ~ w
Upon every one Of its hearers the
bombardmcnt Of talk about the
Bengal poet who In 1913 won the
Nobel prize for "idealistic literature"
must have had one OF two effects:
either to enlist him with the babblers
or to slcken him Of Tagore worship.
In neither casc Is justice done. II is
presumablc that the Indian writer IL
something less than a god. some
thing more than a c%harlatan. Even
with his books In wide circulation in
this country there are few American
readers fit to pass Judgment. not OF
their literary quality. but IN their
Significance and proper influence. They
could not mean anything vital to an
Occidental audience. ignorant Of In
dia's philosophy and art of life. until
placed In a correct setting with regard
20 the personality of their author as
q spokesman for his Oriental nation
atty. Such a setting is provided in
Rdbindronath TdDorc. The Nan and
His Poetry. by BAsANTA KooMAn ROY
(Dodd. Mead). Not an eventful
biography, II Is not a mere spiritual"
record either. 1t taps pretty gener-
ously the we'll filled reservoir Of Ra-
mathematician philosophy. but the en-
tracts bear fairy upon the biogra-
piers statements. whether or not they
may produce in the readers mind In
effect uniformly co%rroborative. And
this Rabindranath Is not all the poet.
the mystic religionist: he Is the eager
humanist. the Indian nationalist. and
prominently. a ''harmonizer'' Of the
Eastern and Western systems"
Quite enough for one man to be.
Whether the book confirms or blasts
preconceptions and p~rejudlces, II has
the merit of replacing impressions
with reasons.
For thirty-fve years Rabindranath
Tagore has been "in the public eye"
OF India. but 1t was not until 1912
that he was introduced to the West.
by the Irish poet William Butler
Yeats. England took him up. He
came to America in the autumn OF
1919 and went away the following
opring without establishing a cult.
In 1918 he won his Nobel prize. and
then this land Of freedom from snob-
blshness was aroused.
The Indian author is no sport" on
Q p.ebeian stem. His family is old
and distinguished. "Tagore" Is An
gllcized "Thakur." Prosonno Hoomar
Tagore Is a large land owner. a law
yer OF high repute. editor and writer
On public affairs. founder and presi-
dent of the British Indian Association
Rajah Sir Sourinda Mohun Tagore Is
Q leading Indian authority in music
founder of the Bengal Music Schoo'
and the Bengal Academy Of Music
writer on Hindu music and instru-
nents. Abanindranath Tagore is q
painter Of note, prominently partlc.-
pant in the revival OF Hindu art. Ma
harajah Ramanath Tagore. to &c
back two generations. was a leader
and writer in politics. His grand
father. Prince ~Dwarakanath Tagore
engaged in the establishment Of tho
L%andhoiders Society. in philanthropy
ard in social reform. 'agitating" de.
terminedly and effectually against
suffice.
The poets father. Debendranatf
Tagore. might have hoen a Maha'
rajah, great ruler. but preferred and
received the title Maharshl. grear
sage. He was such n philosopher
contemp.ative. of the East Oriental
as In some reports his son is repre-
scented to be: yet he managed a con
siderable estate with an odd admix
ture Of shrewd practical business
sense. He had seven sons and three
daughters. and Rabindranath was tn,
youngest OF the ten.
Rabindranath's god intoxicated
father travelled much. to mediate IL
favorable surroundings. The car o
the boy fell To the men servants, an,
they were harsh. They kept him shu
up alone most of the time. and he to,
had opportunity for and practised IT,,
meditation that breeds mysticism il
the Indian mind. Later he wen
through a definite period Of adjust
ment between this intellectual alb
straction and the impulse to ~associat,
in practical" affairs. Chatting in con
finement, he longed for school an,
the freedom that other boys had
When he wen to schoo. he rehelle'
cSdltist a hhIdCI pOIludEt tIdh lie Ild'
known before: he was the quiet ant
dangerous rebel who sits in h bacl
seat, scorning the teacher, refusing I
take part In class exercises, and al
ways using in his W way his owl
mind; who stands last in the line a
term, and on examination confound
his teacher by passing an indisputahl
frst That was his actual exper.enc
in the normal school. to which h
went from the Oriental Seminary an,
which he left for the Anglo-Indiaj
Bengal Academy.
The Maharshi. perceiving the un
~~onquerable madness of poetry in tn
boy and believing in freedom 10
development, abetted the rebsllio
against scholastic tyranny. and too
the rebel out to see the world.
journey into the Hlmaiayas fed tn
poetic fever. Rabindranath wrot
plays, and acted in them: OF cours,
had he chosen the stage, he woul
have been one OF the greatest Benga
actors" They sent him to London {
study law: again he rebelfed. and |
less than a year he returned to hi
dear Bengal. The family was dis
Husted. His eldest sister remarked
I'VE all expected that Rabi woul
make his mark in the world. but a
cur hopes have been nipped in til
bud by the waywardness OF this bo!
and now he will he the only unsuC
cessful man in the family" Blac
sheep know the sweetest SAVIOR Of ger
erOus revenge.