Rabindra Nath Tagore

We have all read Rabindra Nath Tagore at least once. He was a writer par excellence, a lierary seer, and a very important milestone of English literature. His most memorable work was 'Gitanjali'. We all know he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. He was knighted in 1915. But did you know - after the massacre of 1919 he gave up his knighthood. He experienced a short spell of fame in the West. Later his English writings were veiled under a cover of obscurity.
Recently some editors and tranlators have realized that Tagore is also a modernist in a sense although he was previously criticized of being one of the sentimentalist or mystical Edwardian camp. Amit Chaudhri (editor of 'The Picador Book of Modern English Literature') calls him "probably one of the first modernists of the Victorian age."

Here's a song he wished to be sung after his death. Let's comprehend it as a tribute to the great soul:

"The ocean of peace lies ahead of me
Sail the boat, O pilot
You are my constant companion now
Take me in your lap.
Along our journey to the infinite
The pole star alone will shine.
Giver of freedom
Set me free
May your forgiveness and compassion
Be my eternal resources for the journey -
May the mortal ties fall away,
May the vast universe
Hold me in embrace,
And with an undaunted heart
May I come to know the Great Unknown."

(composed in December 1939)