Gitanjali : AS tudy in Lyrical Patterns (Syntax,Diction and Rhythm)

							Gitanjali : A Study in Lyrical Patterns
    (Syntax,Diction and Rhythm)


                     BY

Kusum, SCD Govt. College, Ludhiana
         email: kusumgopal@yahoo.co.in
      Mobile +919464526091
• Gitanjali literally means a heap of flowers
 offered in the cupped hands. The flowers
 are not of one kind; they are different
 gardens. Some are from the garden of
 love, some from the garden of light;
 others from the garden of time, yet still
 others from the garden of death.
   Tagore’s Musical Patterns
  -Devotional Poetry/ Cosmic Rhythm



Chaitanya -Bengali Devotional Movement
- Rasa, Dhvani, Vakrokti(appropriateness)



       (Lyricism and Prose Poetry)
-Dialogue Form – Music and Rhythm


  (Conversational Poetic modes)
         Tradition and Lyricism
Meera/Kabir/Surdas/Jaidev-Bhakti Poetry
• Gitanjali :

- Essence of centuries of meditation and
  devotion
• Quest Motif:

          -Longing for the divine
    -A devotional poet sings his way to God
• One outstanding piece from Gitanjali

-'On the Seashore'
  Yeats singled out this poem to conclude his
       laudatory introduction to Gitanjali.
- in broad terms, the poem is perfectly
  symmetrical in its thematic structure.
- The center line of the third paragraph anchors
  the poem.
• This sentence reads:

• "Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants
  sail in their ships, while children gather
  pebbles and scatter them again."
 -This sentence stands on its own in the
  poem. No other sentence mentions the
  pearl fishers or merchants.
- However, every other sentence in the
  poem has a complementary sentence
  within its respective paragraph.
• Continuing the example of the third paragraph
   starts with sentence:
• "They know not how to swim, they know not
  how to cast nets."
   Compare this with the last sentence of the
  third paragraph: "They seek not for hidden
  treasures, they know not how to cast nets."
  The first half of each unit mimics the style of
  the other, while the second half of each
  phrase is identical: "they know not how to
  cast nets."
Moving from the center of the poem outward to
paragraphs two and four are also symmetrical.

Once again, the first and third sentences of each
paragraph mirror each other in some way.

In the second paragraph, the idea of playing on the
 sand is repeated in both the first and third sentence.

In the fourth paragraph, the phrase "pale gleams the smile of
 the sea beach" is repeated in the first and third sentences. So
 is the motion of the sea. In the first sentence, the "sea surges."
 In the third sentence, the "sea plays." This symmetrical pattern
 continues in paragraphs one and five.
The language used by the poet is the
language of emotion, rhythm, lyrical
  intensity charged with instinctive
  movement.

“LIFE of my life, I shall ever try to
 keep my body pure, knowing that thy
  living touch is upon all my limbs
  Poet is deeply aware of the importance
  of liquid consonants /L/M/N

• MY Desires are many and my cry is
 Pitiful, but ever didst thou save me by
 hard refusals; and this strong mercy
 has been wrought into my life through
 and through.

                     (Gitanjali,1957;page12)
   Syntax                         Diction

• organization of words       • Choice of words to fit
  in sentences: the             their Context
  ordering of and
  relationship between the
  words and other
  structural elements in
  phrases and
  sentences. The syntax
  may be of a whole
  language, a single phrase
  or sentence, or of an
  individual speaker.
 Diction,Rhythm, Pitch and Tone

LIGHT, my light, the world filling light,
the eye kissing light, heart sweetening
light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at
the centre of my life ; the light strikes,
my darling, the chords of my love; the
sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter
passes over the earth.        ( song 57)
Diction,Rhythm, Syntax and Tone
PLUCK this little flower and take it,
delay not! I fear lest it droop an
Drop into the dust.
 It may not find a place in thy gar-l
and, but honour it with a touch of
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I
fear lest the day end before I am
aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and
Its smell be faint, use this flower in
Thy service and pluck it while there
 is time.                              ( song 6)
 The poet describes in a rhythmic rush the
 quick passage of time seasons change, all
 things rush on, no power can hold. Life
 goes on:

All things rush on, they stop not, they look
  not behind, no power can hold them back,
  they rush on.
                 conclusion

• To move towards the conclusion, Tagore is
  simply magnificent .The link he tries to raise
  with the divine through his impenetrable but at
  the same time fathomable artistic creation, is
  fabulous. The internal involuntary willingness to
  glue the supremely enormous in the pages of his
  immortal creation, with fastidious stress on
  language, diction and rhythm, has captivated
  many a hearts and bowled over many minds.