The poetry of Rabindranath Tagore is filled with images of
nature. Given that Tagore was considered by some a prophet, the words which he so
critically choose were done so as to insure that the reader learned something from
them.
This being said, Tagore's use of nature in his poetry
was ever-present. Take for example the following poem "On the Nature of
Love".
Here, nature is used to create an image for readers
regarding love which mirrors aspects of nature. Tagore seems to be explaining the sudden
acknowledgement of love for another by comparing it to coming out of the darkness- an
natural element.
The night is black and the forest has no end; a
million people thread it in a million ways. We have trysts to keep in the darkness, but
where or with whom - of that we are unaware. But we have this faith - that a lifetime's
bliss will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips. Scents, touches, sounds,
snatches of songs brush us, pass us, give us delightful shocks. Then peradventure
there's a flash of lightning: whomever I see that instant I fall in love with. I call
that person and cry: `This life is blest! for your sake such miles have I traversed!'
All those others who came close and moved off in the darkness - I don't know if they
exist or not.
Tagore uses the
comparison of nature to that of the human heart in a few of his poems ("One Day in
Spring", "I", and "Fireflies"). The use of nature gives readers a cue as to which to
relate to given all mankind is familiar with some aspect of
nature.
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