WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

ABOUT  THE  POET

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; his seemingly mesmeric personality, flowing hair, and otherworldly dress earned him a prophet-like reputation in the West.

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

Rabindranath Tagore is to Indians what Shakespeare is to the English.

Introduction

The poet draws a picture of free India.

He dreamt of a country with no boundaries.

This poem is his idealistic dream of poet Rabindranath Tagore  about India as a country.

Tagore prays for the welfare of the country.

PARAGRAPH  WISE   DESCRIPTION  :

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 

The poet prays to almighty  for india to become such a country where there should be an atmosphere of fearlessness. A country where every citizen is able to walk with a sense of pride . Knowledge should be free for all . The country men should not be divided by the walls of  caste and creed. Where everyone is ready to gain experience that enriches ones life

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 

A place where  people’s mind and  their thought process both becomes optimistic , so that people develope  a broad scenario for  analysing the situations at hand. Poet possesses the strong desire of such an india where countrymen should speak the truth and  get the freedom to utter words wich are laiden with truth . poet desires of a country where people should not get tired of working

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

Poet wants the people to develop an optimistic thought process that never leads to social eveils and always help in maintaining peace and calmness among hearts

The poet prays to God that Indians should be logical & progressive in thoughts & actions. They should have the power to reason out the bad , and sort out what is actually good for them.

So that india can become a paradise on earth .

CENTRAL IDEA

In this poem , Where the Mind Is without Fear’, Tagore sketches a moving picture of the nation he would like India to be.

A nation where everyone within the fold of the brotherhood is free to hold up one’s head high and one’s voice can be heard without having any apprehension or fear of oppression or forced compulsion.

He talks about a nation where the knowledge is not restricted by narrow ideas and loyalties.  The India of Tagore’s dream is a country where the people hold their heads high with their pride in knowledge and strength born of that knowledge , where all countrymen must come out of the age-old philosophy of constricted loyalties of caste, creed and religion. Prejudice and superstitious which narrow the mind and divide people should become a thing of the past.

It should be a nation where the words of truth  are spoken out courageously in  open for the world to hear. People should work for perfection leaving aside all superstitious rituals, beliefs and narrow-mindedness.

It should be a nation where everyone is free to toil and work hard for anything they desire either for their own or for the good of the nation. Everyone is encouraged to strive tirelessly till they attain full satisfaction in reaching their goals and perfection.

It should be a nation where blind superstitious habits of thought and action have not put out the light of reason. Where people’s mind should not dwell in the mistakes of the past nor be possessed by it.

On the other hand they should be led by the power of reasoning to be focused on the future by applying logical thought and action. Tagore’s only prayer to the almighty is leading the nation to such an ideal state of heaven. It is only by the universality of outlook and an abiding passion for the realization of great human ideals that India will achieve her true freedom. This way alone it will realize its destiny.

Analysis of figure of speech

The most obvious figure in the poem is EPANAPHORA/ANAPHORA since the word 'where' is eing repeated at the beginning of all the clauses/statements. There are a number of METAPHORS:

1) the big world is compared to many small rooms seperated by 'narrow domestic walls';

2) words coming out from 'the depth of truth' gives us the impression of a fountain/spring on the comparative level;

3) 'the clear stream of reason' is a comparison between reason and a flowing rivulet; and 'dead habit' that chokes the clarity of reason is compared to 'the dreary desert';

4) the phrase 'heaven of freedom' also suggests a metaphorical comparison between two unlike things.

In the line ''Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection', we notice a PERSONIFICATION. 'Tireless striving' which is an abstract idea has been assigned with a human aspect in 'stretches its arms.....'. Finally, in the closing line, there is an APOSTROPHE for the poet addresses God as Father--'..........., my Father, let my country awake'. This is also a case of SYNECDOCHE because here 'country' means the people of the country.

SUBMITTED  BY  :   ANSHIKA  CHATURVEDI

ENROLL.  NO.     :   A2305212445

SECTION             :    2CSE7

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