Tagore’s English writings—originals and translations—have not received the attention that they deserve. The purpose of this edition is to make the English writings of Tagore available to the widest possible range of readers interested in the writings of Tagore all over the world, with just the bare, minimum information necessary for appreciating the writings, and leave the critical assessment to the readers themselves. There may be two possible reasons for the neglect of Tagore’s English writings. Firstly, Tagore’s prolific output, Shakespearean felicity and protean plasticity as a Bengali poet, who, though well-versed in English, chose to write in the medium of his mother tongue for nearly the first fifty years of his life, and there is hardly any literary form that he did not touch upon and turn into gold. His creative genius found expression in poems, plays, novels, essays, short stories, satirical pieces, textbooks for children, and songs of all kinds. The only literary form that he did not try is epic. But in his long, eventful and creative eighty years of life he virtually ‘lived’ an epic. It is largely due to his mighty stature as a Bengali poet that nobody really bothered about his English writings and his own translations of his own writings. Secondly, it is owing to the supposedly ‘poor’ quality of his translations subsequent to the translation of Gitanjali. It was only after Tagore received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 that there was a growing demand for his writings in the West, and as Tagore was not apparently satisfied by the translations that others—mainly his admirers—made, he began to translate his writings himself. But the tremendous haste with which he had to translate, possibly affected the quality of translations. Come what may, the point is whether Tagore’s English translations are good or bad, whether the translation furthered his reputation or damaged it, is immaterial. The fact of the matter is that they are his, and his own translation of whatever quality it may be is more valuable to a Tagore lover than the best translation made by somebody else, as Van Gogh’s one original single scratch is more valuable than the best possible copy by some other artist. The value of Tagore’s English writings lies here : they constitute an important part of his total oeuvre, add a new magnificent dimension to it and offer us a glimpse into the mystique of the creative anxiety that could have haunted even the greatest writer of the twentieth century, about his possible reception in an alien culture.

Table of Contents:
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS A. Open Letters, Speeches, Tributes, etc. 1. The Problem of India 2. Spiritual Civilization 3. National Language of India 4. The Object and Subject of a Story 5. Hindu Intercaste Marriage 6. Vernaculars for the M.A. Degree 7. ‘This Youth which Lies Hidden in My Heart’ 8. On Some Educational Questions 9. ‘Poet’s Contribution to Your Noble Work’ 10. ‘When Badges of Honour Make Our Shame Glaring’ 11. ‘A Great Crime in the Name of Law’ 12. On British Mentality in Relation to India 13. ‘The Efficacy of Ahimsa’ 14. Message to the Young 15. Introducing Elmherst 16. Farewell to Dr M. Winternitz 17. To My Ceylon Audience 18. Letter to Lord Lytton 19. Birth Control Movement 20. ‘Knighthood’ 21. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das 22. Romain Rolland 23. Farewell Address to Carlo Formichi 24. Philosophy of Fascism 25. Fascism Denounced 26. Protest Against the Policy of Repression 27. Henry Barbusse’s Appeal: Tagore’s Response 28. Freedom 29. Mother India 30. Colour Prejudice 31. To the World League for Peace 32. At the Immigration Office 33. ‘East is East’ 34. Protest Against the Arrest of Mahatma Gandhi 35. India: An Appeal to Idealism 36. Race and Colour Prejudice 37. Faith in British Justice 38. Message to the Quaker Society of Friends 39. ‘I am Proud of My People’ 40. Statement Contradicted 41. The Women’s International League 42. The Colour Bar 43. Takagaki. 44. India and Britain 45. On Proselytism 46. Sarnath 47. Imprisonment of Gandhi 48. Message to Iraq Air Force 49. The World’s Children 50. Appeal to America 51. Welcome Address to Professor Davoud 52. On the Centenary of Wilberforce 53. Deshapriya J.M. Sengupta 54. Homage to Islam 55. Bihar Earthquake and the Mahatma 56. Protest Against the Nazis 57. My Ideals with regard to the Sreebhavana 58. Communal Award: To Madan Mohan Malviya 59. Farewell to Abdul Ghafar Khan 60. My Young Friends 61. A Letter to an English Friend 62. Ishopanishat 63. Ramchandra Sharma Undertakes Fast: Tagore’s Appeal 64. ‘A Message of Condolence’ 65. To Indian National Congress 66. The Rice We Eat 67. Message to World Peace Congress 68. New Education Fellowship 69. The English in India 70. Spanish Civil War 71. Appeal to the United Party of Sind 72. In Defence of the Workers on Strike 73. On India 74. Appeal for Andaman Prisoners 75. In Response to Rasbehari Bose’s Appeal 76. Vande Mataram 77. Appeal to Journalists 78. Jagadish Chandra Bose 79. The British Constitution in India 80. To the People of China 81. ‘Fascism’ of the State of Travancore 82. Letters to Czechoslovakia 83. Tagore and Noguchi 84. W.B. Yeats 85. Bihar Co-operative Federation: 21st Conference 86. A Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi 87. European Order and World Order 88. ‘Freedom of Mind’ 89. Telegram to Roosevelt 90. Bengal’s Great Inheritance 91. Man’s Lost Heritage 92. Welcome to Xu Beihong 93. Message to ‘Forward’ 94. Reply to Miss Rathbone B. On Books Thirty Songs from the Punjab and Kashmir To the Nation The Web of Indian Life ‘A Great Channel for Communication’ The Robbery of the Soil Zoroastrian Hymns The Case for India Voiceless India Christ Rebel India Preface to ‘Deliverance’ When Peacocks Called CONVERSATIONS AND INTERVIEWS Marguerite Wilkinson and Tagore Benedetto Croce and Tagore Romain Rolland and Tagore Salvadori and Tagore Angelica Balban and Tagore Interview with F.L. Minigerode H.G. Wells and Tagore Einstein and Tagore Conversations in Russia Interview with the ‘Jewish Standard’: On the Palestinian Problem Interviews in Persia Tagore on Films Index