My translation of famous poems (Tagore) - The Gardener's Collection (32)

Translation, pictures and photography: Zhen Nian Yi Si

Music: True Love (True Love, composer: S.E.N.S)

The melodious harmonica tells all the moods , watching the long-awaited dream become a reality. The joy in my heart is indescribable, but the arrangements of fate are always wonderful. Things that are not yours will eventually be missed. I feel a little disappointed when the unexpected comes, and I have to face such an ending. What else do you want to work hard for, what else do you want to struggle for? , but I don’t know what kind of obstacles I will encounter. Meeting each other is too luxurious and gorgeous. I dare not ask for it. I can only pray that you will stay in my world forever and please let me stay in your corner. No matter what kind of existence I am, I will be content... (from online review)

Introduction to the work:

"The Gardener's Collection" is a collection of poems written by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. It is a collection of English lyric poems "about love and life", written in prose style. ***Contains 85 poems, first published in 1913.

Most of the poems in the collection were translated by the poet from the Bengali poetry collections he created in the 1890s, such as "The Moment Collection", "The Dream Collection", "The Golden Ship Collection" and "The Colorful Collection". . A poetic work belonging to Tagore's early creative stage.

"The Gardener's Collection" is a philosophical collection of poems, with a total of 85 poems. Tagore used concise language to construct a palace of truth. It incorporates the poet's feelings about youth and delicately describes the happiness and sorrow of men and women in love. While reminiscing about youth, it also carries out rational and profound thinking.

In "The Gardener's Collection", the poet clearly expresses his attitude towards social life through profound allegorical poems and concise philosophical poems, and artistically answers why and how people should live. Big life questions. [

Creation background

Tagore was born in an era of rapid change and was influenced by traditional Indian philosophical thought and Western philosophical thought. Tagore's poetic talent emerged in his childhood. When his patriotic poem "Temple Festival for Hindus" was published (1875), he was only 14 years old. In 1905, India set off the first upsurge of the national liberation movement. Tagore actively participated in the movement and wrote many patriotic poems. This period was the most glorious period of his creation. He published eight collections of poetry in Bengali and eight collections of poetry in English, including The Gardener's Collection.

Theme of the work

Love is the eternal theme of poetry. In these more than eighty poems, there are the shyness of first love, the anguish of lovesickness, the anxiety of anticipation, the trembling of trysts, the joy of newlyweds, and the pain of life, separation, and death. The poet seems to lead us into the mysterious world of love and appreciate the pain and joy in it. At the same time, it reflects the poet's persistent pursuit of ideal life.

Tagore lived between the 19th and 20th centuries. Due to the limitations of the times and class, some negative thoughts were also expressed in "The Gardener". For example, in terms of exploring the path of life, the poet sometimes feels that things are counterproductive and helpless: "I ask for what I can't get, and I get what I don't ask for." (No. 15). Sometimes he feels that the future is bleak and the hope cannot be realized: " I am absent-minded, eager to touch the edge of the dim distance." "The breath you blow on me whispers an impossible hope." (No. 5) When it comes to love, Tagore's thoughts are sometimes contradictory. On the one hand, the poet advocates happiness in this world and praises the love between men and women. On the other hand, he believes that the love between men and women is vain: "Who do I want to hold in my arms? Dreams can never catch me. My eager hands hold the emptiness. Hold it tightly in my heart, but it secretly hurts my chest. "(No. 51) Even thinking that love is a vain desire is difficult to realize: less of my vain desires! Where is the hope of this union except in you, my God? "(No. 50)

However, in "The Gardener's Collection", there are only a few poems that reveal negative thoughts and emotions. In this large garden with blooming flowers carefully cultivated by Tagore, there are absolutely no Most lyric poems are full of vitality, they bring people beauty, joy, encouragement and enlightenment

Artistic characteristics

The Gardener's Collection is one of Rabindranath Tagore's important masterpieces. It is a "song of life" that integrates more of the poet's experience in his youth and delicately describes the happiness, troubles and sadness of love. It can be regarded as a youth love song that the poet sings when looking back on the past. When the love song recalls the throbbing of the youthful soul, it undoubtedly maintains a certain distance from one's own youth, and conducts rational examination and thinking, which makes this love song shine with philosophical brilliance from time to time. Reading these poems is like seeing a beautiful world. The clear world allows people to appreciate the taste of love and youth unconsciously.

The poems in the collection are full of the moving vitality of youth and shine with the beautiful color of love. The text describes the expectations, pursuits, troubles and sorrows of young ignorant young people for love, and sings the heart throbbing of youth. The style is fresh and romantic, and at the same time it incorporates the poet's philosophical thinking on love. Compared with "Gitanjali", another work by Tagore that describes the spiritual love between man and God, "The Gardener's Collection" mainly shows the sexual love between men and women.

Obviously, the former is religious and the latter is secular. This is the basic distinction between the two collections of poems. The poet uses symbolism and other techniques to delicately and implicitly express the various emotions in love, and the implicit meaning is arousing people's imagination.

Evaluation of the work

The poems in "The Gardener's Collection" are like "stars in the sky". ---American poet and critic Ezra Pound

"The Gardener" is short and concise, rich in poetry and philosophy.

---Professor Zou Jiecheng

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