Customer Reviews

Stray Birds

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STRAY BIRDS comprises three hundred twenty six short verses or aphorisms by Tagore, the Indian Poet Laureate, whose love of nature and simplicity as well as his regal command of poetic words is crystalized by this precious volume of poetry. Tagore won Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 with Gitanjali (Song Offerings) and this book, published in 1916, and translated by the poet into English himself offers new readers a quick window to peek into the greatness of the Tagore literary temple. Tagore spiritualizes nature into the experiences of human existence:

Find your beauty, my heart, from the world's movement,
like the boat that has the grace of the wind and the water (255)

The Stray Birds of summer that took flight from Tagore's window a century ago, have flown into my heart to sing and to stay.

To those unfamiliar with Tagore, he was an Indian polymath who was the first Asian to ever win a Nobel Prize for Literature. His works are culturally and religiously driven, but contain the common sense and moral aptitude that you would expect from Aesop.
To those familiar with Tagore, I highly recommend this one. The prose is almost similar to simple quotes; each "poem" is no longer than 2 or 3 sentences. However, the imagery employed gives the reader a full sense of the wonders that he is describing. You can read the whole book in one sitting, or multiple sittings since there is no plot to follow. This makes it a great reader for avid or casual readers.

good books always let you enjoy all your life. who do not want a beautiful around you? even sometimes the spirit of the book could make you defence the difficult situation of the life and refresh you when feel very tire and disappointed for what happened in your life. I just like it and will read it again and again to rich myself. thank you for reading my writing and hope this world become better and better with the help of good books, good poems like what Tagore did here.

Beautiful little volume of short, random verses from Tagore. The book is inexpensive and accessible-- a product of Forgotten Books, which offers such works of wisdom online for free. This is a reprint of Stray Birds, published in 1917. They have copied the text as it appeared then and have reproduced it for a modern audience. Rabindranth Tagore is one of the great mystic poets-- whose sparse words illuminate the greater whole. This book has inspired me to explore his writings further. I hope it does the same for you.

I had purchased other books from this author and when I saw the title I felt like it was about me...a stray bird. The first lines took up residence in this little heart nest and I purchased several more, like laying speckled eggs waiting to hatch. When I make my transition from this earthly realm I would like, for any who gather, to celebrate my life by just reading aloud a stanza each until the little book is finished. That will be more than enough.

A book of beautiful, short and musical aphorisms, with the power to transport you to a different place. Can I tempt you with a few quotations?

'Let my doing nothing when I have nothing to do become untroubled in its depth of peace like the evening in the seashore when the water is silent'.

'I have dipped the vessel of my heart into this silent hour: it has filled with love'.

'If you shut your door to all errors truth will be shut out'.

'Lead me to the centre of thy silence to fill my heart with songs'.