Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gitanjali (Song Offerings) : A Bibliometric Study
Gitanjali (Song Offerings) : A Bibliometric Study
Abstract
Rabindranath (1861-1941) received Nobel Prize for Gitanjali (Songs Offerings) in 1913
which is a collection of poems from different kavyagrantha (book of poems). The
present paper is an attempt to study the growth of poems of Gitanjali, there lengths,
places and dates of writings, use of words, rank frequency of different words and to find
out whether Gitanjali follows any bibliometric law. The study also tries to find
justification of the title Gitanjali with the help of bibliometric techniques. It is observed
from the study that many poems of Gitanjali are songs, written long before the
publication and submission of Gitanjali for Nobel Prize .The rank-frequency distribution
of words in Gitanjali do not follow Zipf’s law but justiies the title of the kavyagrantha.
INTRODUCTION
2
Gitanjali – to be had at the Indian Publishing House, 22 Cornwallis Street,
Calcutta; and of a few poems which have appeared in periodicals” [8]. But
this information is not complete as the poems were collected from ten
books (Table 1).
Even a comparative study of Gitanjali published by India Society,
London and Macmillan edition besides punctuations, change can be
noticed such as in poem number 52 one can observe in Indian Society
edition
...no more coyness and sweetness of demeanor.(Page 47)
But the same line in Macmillan edition has changed as:
…no more shy and soft demeanour.
These changes have been made comparing them with the
manuscript and according to Yeats’ suggestions. Even there were some
mistakes in the first line of the content of India Society publication (the
poem number and correct line is given in the bracket) such :
Prisoner, tell me, who it was (31);(Prisoner, tell me , who was it);
Let only that little remain of me (34);(Let only that little be left of me);
Hast thou not heard his silent steps? (45);( Have you not heard his silent
steps?);
When first they came out, the warriors (85);(When the warriors came out
first);
When I give up the helm, then the time has come (99);(When I give up the
helm, I know that the time has come).
Even by scientific comparison of original Bengali poems and English
translation one can find,
i) In the English translation number 61 of Khoka from Shishu the last
two stanzas were deleted.
3
ii) In the second line of translation number 71 “amar” has been
translated as “thy” but actually it is “tomar”.
iii) The translated poem number 95 comprises two poems; complete
poem number 89 of Naivedya and last stanza of 90th poem in
Bengali,
iv) Only the first part of the poem “Utsarga” has been translated in the
English translation number 102.
OBJECTIVES
The study has the following major objectives:
To trace the origin and growth pattern of the poems of Gitanjali in
different Kavyagrantha (books of poems)
To find out the use of words (homonyms, synonyms, etc) and its repetition,
and to know different literary connotations in the poems of Gitanjali.
To find out the number of poems used as songs and their availability in
Swarabitan (book of notation)..
To find out whether Gitanjali follows bibliometric laws (Zipf’s law), and
finally
To justify poetic justice of the title ‘Gitanjali’ with rank frequency
distribution of words.
4
B.S.) of Gitanjali published during Tagore’s life time and as it is bilingual , so a
comparative study is possible [9]. The editions of India Society and Macmillan
were also consulted. Gitabitan [10] and all the volumes of Swarabitan [11] were
also consulted to find out how many poems of Gitanjali are songs and are
available in which volume of Swarabitan (Book of notations).
1 Chaitali 1912 1
2. Kalpana 1900 1
3. Naivedya 1901 15
4. Smaran 1903 1
5. Shishu 1903 3
6. Utsarga 1903 1
7. Kheya 1906 11
8. Gitanjali 1910 53
9. Achalayatan 1912 1
10. Giti-malya [12](collected from the 1914 16
manuscript for Gitanjali, before
publication as book in 1914)
Total 103
5
Table: 2
Places of Writing of Poems of Gitanjali.
Table: 3
Poems where Place of Writing not Mentioned.
6
(1),79(28),82(39),86(18),95(89&90)
3 Kheya 1 54 1.961
4 Achalayatan 1 57 1.961
5 Shishu 1 62 1.961
6 Swaran 1 87 1.961
7 Kalpana 1 88 1.961
8 Chaitali 1 92(6) 1.961
9 Utsarga 1 102(6) 1.961
TOTAL 51 100.00
* In the column of serial number of poems there are two numbers: first one indicates the number
Gitanjali and the second one within first brackets indicates the poem number in original
Kavyagrantha (‘book of poems’).
From Table 3 it is clear that most of the poems where the place of
writing is not mentioned are from original Bengali version of Gitanjali which
contained 157 poems, out of which 53 poems were selected for English
version of Gitanjali submitted for the Nobel Prize. In case of poem number
95 of Gitanjali (English version) two poems of Naivedya (number 89 and
90) were combined together. But in all the poems of Gitanjali dates of 103
poems are available as indicated in Table 4.
Table: 4
Dates of Writing of Poems of Gitanjali.
7
Dec. 10th April, 11th April
11. 1911 26th April,18th May, 1st June, 2nd June, 33
11th June, 13th June, 14th June, 18th
June(2), 20th June, 28th June(2), 30th
June, 4th July, 10th July, 11th July, 12th
July, 13th July, 16th July(2), 18th July,
19th July, 26th July, 28th July, 1st Aug,
7th Aug,8th Aug(2), 9th Aug, 10th
Aug,11th Aug(2), 15th Aug.
12. 1912 Aug/Sept, 23rd March, 1st April(2), 2nd 12
April, 8th April, 9th April, 10th April(2),
11th April, 13th April, 14th April
13. 1913 20th April, 21st April(2), 23rd April, 24th 6
June, 26th June
Total 103
* The number within brackets indicates the number of poem written in that particular year, month.
From Table 4 it is clear that most of the poems (69 out of 103) were
written in the years 1910-13 just before the submission of Gitanjali to the
Nobel Committee, on the other hand some poems were written long
before even in the year of 1895. The length of the poems of Gitanjali
would help to have an idea about the total number of lines and its
percentage thereof.
Table: 5
Length of Poems of Gitanjali
8
9. 32 71 1 32 1.453
10. 30 27 1 30 1.362
11. 28 31,88,91 3 84 3.815
12. 27 79 1 27 1.226
13. 25 55 1 25 1.135
14. 24 11,12 2 48 2.180
15. 22 13,103 2 44 1.998
16. 21 44,70 2 42 1.907
17. 20 6,8,9,14,17,18,47,49,62,62,7 15 300 13.624
4,85,86,89,96
18. 19 95 1 19 0.863
19. 18 10,56,59 3 54 2.452
20. 16 1,2,5,7,15,19,20,21,22,24,26, 30 480 21.798
28,30,32,33,38
39,42,46,53,65,76,77,83,84,9
0,94,97,99,100
21. 15 25,72,73,101 4 60 2.725
22. 14 4,16,23,34,35,36,40,43,58,67 17 238 10.808
,68,69,75,81,
82,87,92
23 12 3,29,37,57,93,98 6 72 3.270
Total 103 2202 100.00
9
Sl. No. Poem Sentences Poem lines Double/Triple words Frequency
No.
1. 2 3 10 Bhalo lage (appears good 1
to one)
2. 3 1, 4 2, 9 Shuni (listen) , Kaite (to 2
speak)
3. 6 4, 7 9, 19 Chhinnakoro (tear) 2
4. 10 1, 2, 3, 4 3, 9, 12, 17 Sabar (for all) 4
5. 11 6 17 Mukti ( to be free from 2
earthly bondage)
6. 16 2 2 Dhanya holo ( became 1
gratified)
7. 19 3 9 Habe (will be) 1
8. 27 1, 2, 12, 13 1, 2, 25, 26 Alo Jwalo (light up) 4
9. 38 1, 2 1, 7 Chai (desire) 2
10. 42 1 2, 4 Bhese (float), Kon deshe 2
(in which country)
11. 45 1 1 Ashe (come) 1
12. 91 1, 3, 6, 9 2, 7,17, 27 Maran (death) 4
13. 103 1,2 1, 2, 7, 8, 13, Ekti namaskare ( in a 8
14, 19, 20 single namaskar)
Table: 7
Repetition of Single Word in a Sentence in Gitanjali
10
home and abroad)
14 70 5,8 Dike Dike (everywhere), Dheye Dheye 2
(chasing and chasing)
15 84 2,5,9 Bhubane Bhubane (at all places), Taray 3
Taray (from star to star), Ghare Ghare ( at
every home )
16 100 3 Ghate Ghate ( from ghat to ghat) 1
17 101 5 Dware Dware( from door to door) 2
Giti-malya
1 1 4,7 Naba Naba ( new and new), Phire Phire 2
( again and again)
2 5 14 Chokhe Chokhe ( constant watch) 1
3 12 5,22 Benke Benke (meandering), Aachho Aachho 2
( definitely present)
4 20 5 Majhe Majhe ( from time to time) 1
5 21 9 Chalchaliye ( like the noise of running 1
water)
6 44 15,16,17 Kshane Kshane ( from moment to moment), 3
Mane Mane ( in mind), Rahi Rahi( at
intervals)
7 53 2,4,14 Taray Taray (among the stars), Barne 3
Barne ( word by word)
8 55 21 Paye Paye ( at every step) 1
9 68 9 Naba Naba (new and new), 2
Barane( respectful reception)
10 72 13,15 Gopane Gopane ( secretly), Niti Niti 2
(always)
11 89 2,4 Kshane Kshane( from moment to moment), 2
Gane Gane (in songs)
12 98 7 Thare Thare ( in strata) 1
Naivedya
1 25 1,3 Majhe Majhe (at intervals) , Til Til 2
(slowly)
2 35 7 Deshe Deshe, Dishe Dishe ( everywhere) 2
3 40 8,10 Pale Pale ( at every moment), Sanghara 2
Sanghara ( destroy, destroy)
4 43 12 Theke Theke (at intervals) 1
5 67 67 Nai Nai ( non-existence) 1
6 69 1,5,6,7,11 Shiray Shiray ( in veins), Chupe Chupe 6
(secretly), Laksha Laksha ( in lakhs), Trine
Trine ( in every grass), Barashe
Barashe( year after year), Ange Ange ( in
11
limbs).
7 81 1,5 Majhe Majhe (at intervals), Antare Antare 2
( in hearts)
8 82 11 Dite Dite ( giving) 1
Kheya
1 41 25 Cheye Cheye ( observing) 1
2 48 4,19 Bhare Bhare ( large quantity), Ghure Ghure 2
(continious traveling)
3 50 2,3,19,20 Pathe Pathe ( on roads), Dware Dware 4
(from door to door) , Mutha Mutha
(handful), Bhare Bhare.
4 51 15,25,28 Ghare Ghare (in homes), Kshane Kshane, 3
Jhanjhani (noise of striking a thin metal)
5 78 8 Dale Dale ( in flocks) 1
6 80 14,17 Naba Naba , Barne Barne 2
Shishu
1 61 32,40 Ghire Ghire ( surrounding) 2
2 62 8 Patay Patay ( in leaves) 1
Achalayatan
1 57 9,10 Majhe Majhe , Patay Patay 2
Kalpana
1 88 2,4 Theke Theke, Phire Phire 2
Chaitali
1 92 6 Ghare Ghare 1
Utsarga
1 102 9,25,26,35 Ki Jani, Ki Jani ( not sure), Kshane Kshane 4
Gitanjali
12
2 13 16 Aasa Jaoa( come-and-go) 1
3 16 10 Kanna Hasi (tears and smiles) 1
4 17 16 Becha Kena( Buying and selling) 1
5 28 1 Jaraya Chharaya( In trammel and in 1
break)
6 29 3 Dibarati (Day and night, All the 1
times)
7 34 5 Dibanishi (Day and night, All the 1
times)
8 38 6 Dine Rate (During day and night, 1
All the times)
9 45 3 Din-Rajani (Day and night, All the 1
times)
10 46 5 Sakal-Sanjhe (In morning and 1
evening)
11 58 6 Jiban- Maran (Life and death) 1
12 63 3,11,7 Dur Nikat( Distant and near),Nutan 5 ( Dur Nikat
Puratan( Old and new), Jiban used thrice)
Maran (Life and dealth)
13 66 23 Bhanga Gara ( Destruction and 1
creation)
14 74 12 Aasa Jaoa (coming and going) 1
15 77 12 Sukhe Dukhe ( In pleasure and pain) 1
16 84 12 Sukhe Dukhe 1
17 90 8,12 Sandhya Prabhat (Evening and 2
morning, All the times), Duhkho
Sukh (Pain and pleasure)
18 91 6 Duhkho Sukh 1
19 101 12 Duhkho Sukh 1
20 103 18 Dibasratri ( Day and night, All the 1
time)
Naivedya
1 4 2 Rajani Dibas ( Day and night, All 1
the times)
2 25 14 Ratri Dibas (Day and night, All the 1
times)
3 35 3 Dibas Sharbari (Day and night, All 1
the times)
4 36 5 Sukhe Dukhe 1
5 43 9 Sukh Duhkha 1
6 69 2,9,10 Ratri Din (Night and day), Janma- 3
mrityu (birth and death), Joar-vanta
( in ebb and flow)
13
7 82 2 Ratri Din 1
8 95 9 Sukhe Dukhe 1
Kheya
Giti-malya
Shishu
Chaitali
1 92 6 Sukhe Dukhe 1
Table: 9
Use of Contrasting Pair of Words in a Sentence
Gitanjali
14
2 39 4 Kripan Udar( Miserly Noble) 1
3 45 6 Dukhe Sukhe 1
4 83 5 Dite Nite ( to give or to take) 1
Naivedya
1 73 2 Bandhan Mukti( Bond and 1
freedom)
2 95 1 Jiban Mrityu (Life and death) 1
Kheya
1 31 7 Swadhin Das( Free and bonded) 1
Table: 10
15
17 44 Gitalekha vol.3/ 1324-27 (B.S) 41
18 45 Gitalipi vol.3/ 1910-18 38
19 46 Gitalipi vol.1/ 1910-18 37
20 49 Gitalipi vol.5/ 1910-18 37
21 53 Gitanjali/ 1927 42
22 55 Gitalekha/ 1324-27 (B.S) 39
23 56 Gitalipi vol.4/ 1910-18 37
24 57 Gitanjali/ 1927 52
25 59 Gitalipi vol.3/ 1910-18 38
26 63 Brahmasangit vol.6/ 1311-18 (B.S) 26
27 65 Gitalipi vol.4/ 1910-18 38
28 70 Gitalipi vol.2/ 1910-18 38
29 72 Gitalekha vol.2/ 1324-27 (B.S) 40
30 74 Gitalipi vol.3/ 1910-18 38
31 76 Brahmasangit vol.4/ 1311-18 (B.S) 24
32 77 Gitalipi vol.5/ 1910-18 37
33 79 Gitalipi vol.1/ 1910-18 38
34 83 Gitanjali/ 1917 50
35 84 Gitalekha vol.2/ 1324-27 (B.S) 37
36 89 Gitalekha vol.1/ 1324-27 (B.S) 39
37 93 Gitalipi vol.6/ 11910-18 40
38 94 Gitanjali/ 1917 41
39 97 Gitalipi vol.3/ 1910-18 37
40 98 Gitalekha vol.1/ 1324-27 (B.S) 39
41 100 Gitalipi vol.1/ 1910-18 38
42 103 Gitanjali/ 1917 38
16
Rank (Y) Frequency (X) Constant (N)
1 1740 1740
2 467 934
3 238 714
4 139 556
5 100 500
6 65 390
7 51 357
5.7 Conclusion:
17
1/10 of the full text. It can be observed from the table 11 that the
constant varies widely. Hence, it may be observed that the data do
not follow Zipf’s law.
It can be observed from a study that the first two words (rank 1 and
rank 2) are pronouns, Amar (f 205) and Tomar (f 199) [15]. The poet offers
his prayer to God, so the word Amar (my) and Tomar (your) appears
frequently than other words in the whole text. This justifies the title of the
kavyagrantha ‘Gitanjali’ as it is offerings of Tagore to Almighty in the form
of songs. It may be noted that Rabindranath wrote in a letter to Indira Devi
Chaudhurani “…. I was not consciously writing poetry when writing the
songs of Gitanjali. They were an expression of my feelings; they were my
humble prayers, my sincere sadhana and also a reflection of my joys and
sorrows” [16].
18
Notes and References:
19
20