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| Gitanjali—poem No.35—Where the Mind Is without Fear—Summary and Critical Appreciation |
Summary of the Poem No. 35:
Stanza-1:
“WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high:
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;”
Word-Meanings:
1. Without fear = dauntless. 2. The head is high = feeling honoured. 3. Where...is free = nobody should be deprived education on grounds of poverty, caste, creed or sex. 4. Education = knowledge. 5. Where the world...walls = petty considerations of nationality, caste and creed should not divide the people. 6. Fragments = small units. 7. Narrow = not broad. 8. Domestic walls = considerations of caste, religion and community. 9. Depth of truth = based on truth. 10. Tireless = constant. 11. Striving = attempting. 12. Stretches = spreads forward. 13. Perfection = faultlessness. 14. Streams of reason = one's reasoning power. 15. Dead habit = blind custom and traditions. 16. Dreary...habit = antique and outdated customs and traditions.
Paraphrase:
The poet presents his conception of true freedom. He says that his people should have freedom of thought. Their minds should be free from fear. They should hold their heads high with pride. They should live with dignity. His countrymen should acquire education. There should be no restriction of knowledge. It should be imparted to all without any discrimination whether rich or poor, boy or girl and of lower or of higher caste. Petty considerations of nationality, caste and creed should not divide the people. There should be no factionalism in his country. The people must rise above the narrow considerations of caste, religion or community. The people of the country should remain one forgetting all their petty differences. His countrymen should be truthful and sincere. They should make and fulfil their promises sincerely. They should be hard working. They should preserve constantly to achieve perfection. The stream of reason should not be lost in the desert of old traditions and customs, that is, the people should be guided and reason and they should not blindly follow old customs and traditions. They should be enlightened in their outlook and not orthodoxy.
STANZA-2
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action–
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”
Word-Meanings:
1. Led forward = motivated. 2. By thee = by the help of God. 3. Ever-widening = ever growing onward. 4. Heaven of freedom = happy state of being free. 5. My Father = God and Creator. 6. Let …awake = should get up from the sleep of slavery.
Paraphrase:
The poet prays to God that He should lead his countrymen to harmonious development. He should guide them so that they have fair thoughts and then they may turn their thoughts into action. They should be wise and powerful. His countrymen are sleeping idly. They are not awakened from the sleep of ignorance. So, the poet prays to Father God to make his countrymen fully awakened.
Critical Appreciation of Poem:
Introduction:
The Poem No. 35 entitled “Where the Mind Is without Fear” is a well known poem of Rabindranath Tagore. It is an extract from his world famous collection of poems entitled Gitanjali which earned for him universal applause along with the Nobel Prize in 1913. It was written in pre-independence India in the days of slavery. The poem expresses his high ideals of independence.
The poet has visualized the picture of freedom that had cherished for his motherland. Along with political freedom, he desired that Indians should also get spiritual freedom which would mean real freedom from fear, prejudices and orthodoxy. He prays to God that India may become a place where knowledge is shared by all freely.
This poem stresses spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom is permanent freedom while political freedom is worth ruining.
The poem is full of alliterations and has been written in a sing-song manner. The rhythm is catching and the selection of words is noteworthy.
Thought-Content:
The poet dreams of a free India in which the mind should not be afflicted with fear and the head should be held high with self-respect, where knowledge should be free; where there should be perfect unity; where truth should rule and human labour should lead towards perfection. There should be no barriers of caste and creed to divide the country. All people should speak the truth and should work hard. There should be no dead habits. All blind beliefs and superstitions should be abolished and the kingdom of reason should rule; where the sole guiding force should be God. The poet prays to God to lead his country to such a paradise of freedom. It should be the heaven of universal freedom, brotherhood, unity, peace, truth, reason, love of man and love of God that the poet envisages for his country.
Theme of the Poem:
Tagore has own conception of true freedom. Freedom from fear, petty considerations of nationality, caste, creed and colour and the world of brotherhood are the ingredients of perfect freedom to him. He prays the Almighty to bestow this kind of freedom to India. The poet stresses spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom is permanent freedom while political freedom is worth-ruining. The poet has described the result of old customs and traditions in this poem.
Language, Style and Diction:
Tagore is gifted with the art of singing. He is the master of speech, lord of the word. Words and sounds come to him as naturally as colour to a flower. He weaves his words into bewitching rhythmic patterns. The words called for the poetic purpose are simple and monosyllabic yet musical and figurative:
"Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has
Not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit..."
The poem is simple and striking. It directly touches the inner core of heart. It is full of metaphors and alliterations. It has been written in a sing-song manner. The rhythm is catching and the selection of the words is note-worthy.
