罗宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔(Rabindranath Tagore),印度诗人、哲学家和反现代民族主义者。1913年获得诺贝尔文学奖,是第一位获得诺贝尔文学奖的亚洲人。在其他国家,泰戈尔一般被看作是一位诗人,而很少被看做一位哲学家,但在印度这两者往往是相同的。他的诗中含有深刻的宗教和哲学的见解。对泰戈尔来说,他的诗是他奉献给神的礼物,而他本人是神的求婚者。他的诗在印度享有史诗的地位,他本人被许多印度教徒看作是一个圣人。

泰戈尔8岁开始写诗,12岁开始写剧本,15岁发表了第一首长诗《野花》,17岁发表了叙事诗《诗人的故事》。1878年赴英国伦敦大学学院(UCL)留学,1880年回国专门从事文学活动。1886年,他发表《新月集》,成为印度大中小学必选的文学教材。除诗歌外,泰戈尔还写了小说、小品文、游记、话剧和2000多首歌曲。

泰戈尔做过多次旅行,这使他了解到许多不同的文化以及它们之间的区别。他对东方和西方文化的描写至今为止是这类描述中最细腻的之一。

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; however, his "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal. Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit. He was highly influential in introducing the best of Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of modern South Asia.

Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.

主要作品】

诗集:《故事诗集》(1900)、《吉檀迦利》(1910)、《新月集》 (1913)、《飞鸟集》(1916)、《流萤集》(1928)、《园丁集》(1913)、《边缘集》(1938)、《生辰集》(1941)

小说:
短篇《还债》(1891)、 《弃绝》(1893)、《素芭》(1893)、《人是活着,还是死了?》(1892)、《摩诃摩耶》(1892)、《太阳与乌云》 (1894)
中篇《四个人》(1916)
长篇《沉船》(1906)、《戈拉》(1910)、《家庭与世界》(1916)、《两姐妹》(1932)

歌曲:印度国歌《人民的意志》

【评价】

作家冰心:“泰戈尔是贵族出身,家境优越,自幼受过良好教育。他的作品感情充沛,语调明快,用辞华美。格调也更天真,更欢畅,更富神秘色彩。而纪伯伦是苦出身,他的作品更像一个饱经沧桑的老人在讲为人处世的哲理,于平静中流露出淡淡的悲凉。”

名言】

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
如果你因为错过太阳而哭泣,那么你也将错过星星。

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
蝴蝶用瞬间而非月份来计算生命,她的时光因之而富足。

A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it.
只有理智的心恰如一把全是锋刃的刀,让握着的手流血受伤。

It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple.
活得快乐很简单,活动简单却很难。

We live in the world when we love it.
当我们热爱这个世界时,我们才是真正地活着。

You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that for this I had been waiting long.
你微笑着,沉默不语;我却感觉,为了这一刻,我等候已久。

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
我睡去,梦见生活就是享乐。我醒来,发现生活就是劳碌。我身体力行后领悟到,原来劳碌中充满快乐。

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
死亡并不是光明的陨灭,而是关上灯,因为黎明即将来临。