Shesh Lekha

Author: Rabindranath Tagore
Translator: Pritish Nandy
Publisher: Rupa
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 36
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8171677827

Description

The Last Poems of Rabindranath Tagore is not only the last testament of Tagore but is significant in many other ways. Most of the untitled poems in this collection were literally written on his death bed, and translated by media personality Pritish Nandy..

Word wizardry was always one of Tagore’s strongest appeals. But in ‘Shesh Lekha’ it touches a point of mystifyingly subtle communication. The language is bare, the imagery striking and the expression Spartan. These poems are thus radically different from the decorative language of early Tagore. The verbal finesse is remarkable. Not a word is extra. They are telegrams in verse.

In the words of P. Lal, a poet and perceptive critic, “the poem glimmers into ‘meaning’ and before the intellect can sort out the meaning, glimmers away. A second and third reading only produces further bafflement.” The depth of dual meaning imparts an enigmatic quality to them. The poet seems to just hint at the meaning; it is up to the reader to interpret the fine nuances and create his own poem.