Fireflies

by Rabindranath Tagore, Alberta Hutchinson (Illustrator)

Fireflies is a collection of 253 brief poems by the famed Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature. Originating in China and Japan, and often written on fans and bits of silk, they are here wonderfully illustrated in black and white by Alberta Hutchinson. A prolific artist, poet and author, Hutchinson has created thousands of works including coloring books, illustrated books, a mandala series, design books, ornaments, portraits, quilts and fabrics, and has designed and built a meditation pagoda, “Lotus House.” Her other recent books include a novel, Step by Step (2011), an illustrated children’s book, The Orphan and the Christmas Tree (2011), and an illustrated book of her own poems, Songs of Symmetry (2012).

Genres: Poetry, India, Classics, 20th Century, Indian Literature, Philosophy, Nonfiction

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."

Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. 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.

The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fancies are fireflies,--
Specks of living light twinkling in the dark

Rabindranath Tagore was a remarkable person. Born in Calcutta to a wealthy and prominent family, he travelled with his father and saw people living in many diverse conditions. He was sent to school in England to be a lawyer, but his interest was in literature, and he returned to India to write poetry. He branched out to writing everything from non-fiction to plays as well, and received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.

My introduction to Tagore came with the brilliant short story Kabuliwala. This collection of material he gathered while visiting Japan is equally brilliant, like a scattering of stars or, indeed, fireflies. They can be read as koans, in that they unveil a fuller meaning with slow reading and meditation.

I read a few of these each day, but it would be a wonderful book to have around to pull off the shelf and flip through when in need of a little light to cut through the darkness. I’ll just share a few of my many favorites below.

Days are coloured bubbles
that float upon the surface of fathomless night.

The world knows that the few
are more than the many.

Love is an endless mystery,
for it has nothing else to explain it.

The wise know how to teach,
the fool how to smite.

The sun’s kiss mellows into abandonment
the miserliness of the green fruit clinging to its stem.

When the voice of the Silent touches my words
I know him and therefore I know myself.

[Lee Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom gave this book to my dad when they got married. They're not married anymore, but somehow these jewel-like little poems capture that feeling of being in love and hopeful and all the bright-eyed wonder towards the world that goes along with it.

[Zoha Mortazavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب شعر ۲۱۵، هایکوهای تاگور

«کلماتم که ناچیزند،
سبک‌بالانه می‌رقصند بر موج‌های زمان
وقتی کارهایم سنگین از ادراک، ته نشین شده‌اند.»

[Negar Ghadimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

بگذار عشقِ من چون آفتاب، تو را احاطه کند / و با این حال آزادیِ روشنی را به تو بدهد
———————————
خاطره راهبه‌ای است / که حالا را قربانی می کند / و قلبِ آن را تقدیم می‌کند به معبدِ گذشته‌ی مرده
———————————
ذهنِ من درنگ می‌کند در جرقه‌ای / میانِ جریانِ بی‌وقفه‌ی افکارش / چون آبشاری در یکی از قطره‌هایش / که هرگز تکرار نخواهد شد
———————————
تعصب می‌کوشد حقیقت را در چنگالِ خود سالم نگه دارد / با فشاری که آن را خواهد کشت
———————————
خدایان، خسته از بهشتشان، رشک می‌برند به انسان
———————————
نیک کردار به دروازه‌ی معبد می‌رسد / عاشق به درونِ معبد راه می‌یابد

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

When mentioned by name, I had the vaguest knowledge that Rabindranath Tagore was “an Indian poet,” but knew nothing beyond that. Impulsively, I read Fireflies, a collection of verse he wrote in the late 1920s. I can’t quite bring myself to call these offerings “poems,” but I will not argue with more learned people who do (I find that my notions about definitions of poetry differ wildly from those of literary experts).

I find the entries in Fireflies to be nothing more one man’s random musings about a variety of aspects of human life and surrounding nature (but, one could argue, isn’t that what all poetry is about, anyway?). However, substituting “fancies” for my “musings,” Tagore himself admits with the very first verse:

 My fancies are fireflies—
	 Specks of living light
		 twinkling in the dark.

While the subject matter of each poem leaves me mostly emotionally neutral, what is fascinating is Tagore’s phraseology in constructing his lines. It is downright clever, even though some verses require a second slow reading to tease out comprehension, and then meaning. In addition, some of his poems do have some universality about them, eerily reflecting, for example, twenty-first-century politics!

 The tyrant claims freedom to kill freedom
	 and yet to keep it for himself.

And also:

 Mistakes live in the neighborhood of truth
	 and therefore delude one.

Fireflies was a one-sitting read for me, since each poem is between two and six lines long, with the vast majority being two or three lines. The book contains some 250 verses, so, doing the simple math, that is a total of between 500-1,500 lines—that’s lines! An average novel typically has about 35-45 lines per page.

In fairness, Tagore did seem to be an intellectual powerhouse, at least in a literary sense, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He was also knighted in 1915, but renounced it several years later following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, where British soldiers gunned down hundreds of unarmed, peacefully-protesting Indian civilians. Tagore was not a fan of traditional teaching and learning methods and spent much of his own money experimenting with alternative educational systems.

While some of the poetry in Fireflies is cloyingly sugary and flowery, at other times it is thought-provoking enough to commit one or two lines to memory. Although this example is not the last in the book, it might have made an apt ending.

 My last salutations are to them
	 who knew me imperfect and loved me.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a poetry kind of person.. but this one was separated into small little bites, so each sentence was powerful. Very interesting and some very pretty bits. A couple of my favorites:

"The child ever dwells in the mystery of ageless time, unobstructed by the dust of history."

"A light laughter in the steps of creation carries it swiftly across time."

"To justify their own spilling of ink they spell the day as night."

I may be misinterpreting something.. but at the very least I like the way the words flowed/sounded together.

[Meowchick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real gems of short poems.Must read for all.

[Crystal Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will carry this book with me wherever I go.

[Ravi Prakash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I liked and Sometimes I couldn't get the essence of Tagore's wordings, and even Sometimes I fully got that what he wanted to convey, but I couldn't believe myself that it is so. Nature speaks in this collection. Trees, Hills, Sea, Mountains show their glory to Tagore.

[Ondřej]

Když jsem už poněkolikáté procházel ulicí Thákurovou, nedalo mi to a konečně jsem si od něj něco přečetl. Nakonec mě příliš nenadchl, ale když nic jiného, snad by se jeho knihou citátů o květinkách dal sladit čaj.

*****
Červu se zdá podivné a hloupé, že člověk nejí své knihy.

[Punn · Rating 4 out of 5]

เคยอ่านแบบรวดเดียวจบ แต่รู้สึกว่าไม่ละเมียดละไมเท่าไหร่
เลยเอามาอ่านใหม่วันละโศลก ปล่อยให้ขบคิดไปทีละโศลก
พบว่าละเมียดกว่าเดิม เหมือนค่อยๆจิบชาทีละนิดๆ ดื่มด่ำเต็มอารมณ์

พึ่งได้ตามไปดูหนังที่ทำจากหนังสือของรพินทรนาถเรื่อง
stories by rabindranath tagore ใน Netflix ชอบมากอินเดียมากๆ
สมกับที่เป็นนักปราชญ์

[Swapna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you ever just wake up and feel the deficiency of poetry in your day? I do. Today I did and finished this lovely collection that I've been keeping on hand. I first picked this up in college and it was a balm for my brain. Still is. Filled with beautiful couplets and triplets about nature and the Divine. I will go back to this over and over again.

[Riyadh Hammadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

استمتعت بقراءتها عدة مرات وقمت بترجمتها وهي جاهزة للنشر في كتاب

I have enjoyed reading Fireflies several times and translated it into Arabic... it is ready to be published in a book as soon as it is possible.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love the poems in this book...

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really, really love this terrific collection. Is there anything better than poetry which communicates such profound truth in so few words?

[Vani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection has every verse translating to a very deep meaning,it makes you ponder over life. The metaphors and references made are brilliant. An easy read for the way it is compiled.

[Pragya · Rating 5 out of 5]

These small bits of verses were so profound and superlative. My Heart just want to go back and read it again and again. These are more than just poems, they feel so divine and philosophical at the same time . This is a gem of a collection of works by Rabindranath Tagore whatever song he was trying to convey by these verses it touched my soul.

I have never read such great collection of poetry together. I am gonna keep this book forever with me.

[Znail · Rating 3 out of 5]

อ่านภาษาไทยแล้วรู้สึกว่ายากพอ ๆ กับภาษาอังกฤษเลย 55555 แต่ภาษาสวยงามมาก

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Begs the question, whose songs will be sung. Lovely sentiments. Would love to have seen the originals in fans and silk from the near Eastern shores.

[Mohammad Ali Shamekhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

کم کم نظرمو به خودش جلب کرد واقعا - البته باید انگلیسیش هم کنار دستتون باشه وگرنه یه جاهایی اون فهم و لذتی که باید دست نمی ده بهتون. در ضمن این تنها بخشی از کل مجموعه‌ی شب‌تاب‌ها است - گزیده نمی شه اسمشو گذاشت، نویسنده تا یه جا ترجمه کرده بعد ولش کرده. حتی نصف کتاب اصلی هم نیست. اشعار انگلیسی رو می تونید تو اینترنت پیدا کنید. من همزمان اونارم خوندم و اونایی که ترجمه نشده بود رو هم خوندم. چیزای جالب درش کم نبودن

حوصله ی حرف زدن ندارم اما مفاهیمی مثل بازی، خنده و ... ریشه های مستحکمی در اندیشه ی دینی-عرفانی هندی دارند. خیلی از بندها هم ممکنه به نظر دارای نوعی ناامیدی و ... باشن اما تاگور برعکس با تکیه بر بازی قصدش سرخوشی و ... است. پس مواظب باشید که از منظر خود تاگور اشعار همه سرخوشانه هستند. هر چند من که دیدگاه ناامیدانه رو برای تفسیر اشعار بیشتر دوست دارم

پ. ن. الان دیدم مسیحا برزگر همه ی مجموعه رو ظاهرا ترجمه کرده اونم دو زبانه

[Afew* · Rating 4 out of 5]

เป็นกวีบทสั้นๆ สองสามประโยค ในคำนำเปรียบกวีในเล่มนี้ไว้ว่าเหมือนหิ่งห้อย ส่วนตัวเราชอบกว่าบทกวีแห่งรับยี่สิบบทฯ อาจจะด้วยเพราะมันสั้นและไม่ใช้สมาธิในการคิดเยอะ เหมาะกับช่วงที่เราอ่านเป็นการพักจากการเรียน หลายๆบทเข้าใจได้ไม่ยาก และชอบหลายบทมาาก เรายกมานิดหน่อย

“ขอให้รักเธอเล็งแลข้า
แม้ผ่านกำแพงความชิดใกล้”

“เงาไม้แห่งข้าสำหรับผู้สัญจรไปมา
ผลของมันเพื่อเขาฅนเดียวที่ข้าคอย”

“รักคือความเลร้นลับอันมิรู้จบ
เพราะหาอื่นใดมาอธิบายมิได้”

“ด้วยรัก ข้าให้หนี้อนันต์แด่เธอ
เพื่อสิ่งที่เธอเป็น”

“บุปผาเอง จงเอ็นดูตัวหนอน
มันมีใช่ผึ่ง
รักของมันย่อมงุ่งงามน่ารำคาญ”

“อิสรภาพจะได้มาก็เมื่อได้จ่ายไปเต็มแล้ว
สำหรับสิทธิที่จะมีชีวิตอยู่”

และบทในตำนาน

“นมัสการสุดท้าย
ขอมอบแด่ผู้ที่รู้ว่าข้าบกพร่อง แต่ก็รัก”

ชอบและคิดว่าคงหยิบมาอ่านบ่อย คงหยิบติดกระเป๋าไปนู้นไปนี้ด้วย

[DoDo · Rating 5 out of 5]

ยกความดีงามให้กับผู้แปล ภาษาไทยในบทกวีเลือกคำได้เพราะพริ้งสละสลวยมาก

ใช้เวลาอ่านนานหน่อยเพราะภาษาค่อนข้างละเมียดละไม เน้นไปทางจิตวิญญาณกับธรรมชาติ มีบททีชอบอยู่หลายบท ทุกบทที่แปลมามีความลึกซึ้งงดงาม มีความสวยงามด้านภาษามากๆ เป็นหนังสือที่ควรค่าแก่การสะสมในหลายแง่

[Meena Gupta]

"Fireflies had their origin in China and Japan where thoughts were very often claimed from me in my handwriting on fans and pieces of silk." Quote Tagore

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not typically into poetry, but I love this book of extremely short but deep poems; some of which changed my life.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my all time favorite book of poems. I read them often.

[Poetic Subtlety · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took days for me to finish this 60 pages book. The wisdom and reflections shared in this book are timeless. It has a blend of haiku too.

There're three kind of poem books, I believe.
First, an interesting, one-time read. Second, on and off Vibes, and third, with whom you fall in love.
This book comes under that third column. The metaphors and breaths of poems are very fresh. I wonder where these type of thoughts will be found in modern literature. My heartfelt thanks to Niyogi Books publishers and the enitre team for their efforts to present this beautiful collection to the modern generation.

If one says this book is read in one sitting, then I'll say he/she is probably just reading but, deciphering its depth, is something different. Few pages defeats thousand pages bestseller volumes of my shelves. I'd love to return to this book again and again.

[Haley Ricker · Rating 5 out of 5]

These beautiful pieces have been compiled into a breath-taking anthology. This is something I have read cover to cover several times. I have started reading a few a night, and contemplating their deeper meanings to learn more about myself and the world around me. These are beautiful, and I would love to incorporate some of these into my own writing as well.

This is a book I picked up in a box of weeded materials from a middle/high school library, and I am so glad I did. I had no idea who Rabindranath Tagore was, but I do now. These are wonderful little proverbs that I plan to use in my classroom as a teacher to help my students think critically, as well as to learn to interpret on their own.

If you are a lover of poetry and deep thinking, read this. Trust me, just read it.

[Tippy Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

แอบผิดคาดนิดหน่อยแฮะ ทีแรกก็นึกว่าจะเป็นเรื่องสั้นแบบเล่มเดียวจบไรงิ แต่กลายเป็นลักษณะวรรณกรรมแบบเดียวกับ พระธรรมสุภาษิต คือเป็นข้อคิดสั้นๆ เกี่ยวกับชีวิตและธรรมชาติต่างๆ ซึ่งสะท้อนออกมาจากโลกทัศน์ของผู้เขียนเอง แต่ละข้อไม่มีอะไรเกี่ยวข้องหรือต่อเนื่องกัน
โดยรวม มีหลายๆ ข้อที่น่าสนใจ น่าคิดต่อ และหลายๆ ข้ออีกเหมือนกันที่งงๆ บางอันต้องอ่านภาษาอังกฤษประกอบไปด้วย เพราะคำแปลไทย ใช้ศัพท์ยากมากๆ ฮาๆ ข้อดีคือ อ่านอันนี้แล้ว ทำให้รู้สึกอยากกลับไปอ่านพระธรรมสุภาษิตอีกสักรอบดีกว่า xD
เหมาะสำหรับคนชอบเก็บสะสมอ่ะ เพราะตัวหนังสือและโปสการ์ด ที่คั่นของแถม เวอร์ชันที่ออกมาปี 2022 ทำออกมาได้น่ารัก น่าสะสมเลย

[Ubonwan Poosawang · Rating 5 out of 5]

เป็นกวีเล่มที่สองสำหรับเรา แต่เป็นเล่มแรกที่อ่านจบแล้วรู้สึกชอบ ตอนเริ่มอ่านกลัวจะอ่านไม่เข้าใจ ยิ่งอ่านยิ่งรู้สึกสงบขึ้นเรื่อยๆ บางครั้งอดอ่านเร็วๆ ไม่ได้เพราะอยากรีบเข้าใจเนื้อหา จน��ม่รู้ว่าผู้เขียนต้องการสื่อหมายความอะไร เลยอ่านช้าลง ค่อยๆ ละเลียดซึมซับความสวยงามจากบทกวีทั้งภาษาอังกฤษและแปลไทยไปทีละนิด พอจบแล้วรู้สึกอิ่มใจ ค้นพบว่าไม่ต้องเข้าใจหรือตั้งใจตีความทุกประโยคก็มีความสุขได้จากหนังสือเล่มนี้

[Rob Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a book as physically beautiful as this. Each page was decorated with a unique decorative motifs by Boris Artzybasheff and a single Tagore poem. Artzybasheff's art complements Tragore's intimate connection between human experience and nature. It was a pleasure to page through and dwell on the poems that really hit the mark. Here are a few of those.

Full post: https://soundmoneymacro.com/2022/09/1...