Publisher's Synopsis
This collection of Tagore's songs in translation, perhaps the largest to appear in a systematic form, aims at a holistic appreciation of this body of Tagore's literary creation. Arranged chronologically, this collection pays a lot of attention to the lyric's quality as poetry than to the song's tune or melodic quality. The translations closely follow the original Bengali lyrics in formal structure (line arrangement, rhyming pattern, and exact wording) instead of using free verse, and phonetic transliteration of the original is provided alongside the faithful translation-this enables one to immediately follow the artistry of the structure of expression in form and wording. Where the lyric had been transcreated by the poet himself, that is quoted before giving the translation that follows the original Bengali as closely as possible-something that will be of particular interest to students of translation studies. The fairly comprehensive Introduction and several carefully chosen articles on Tagore's songs would also help the reader to understand the songs as a very special, and rather unique, kind of poetry, quite apart from the general body of Tagore's poems. This edition will appeal to those who know Tagore as also young readers, apart from students and scholars of Indian literature and translation studies.
