Prayer for Strength (Rabindranath Tagore)

Summary:

Rabindranath Tagore talks of spiritual strength and richness. He does not talk of any material poverty. He doesn’t want any spiritual weakness in his heart. He prays to God to drive away all spiritual weakness from his soul. He wants it to be removed from the very root of his heart. There should be no room for it in his life whatsoever. He wants such spiritual strength that will enable him to bear his joys and sorrows without any sort of complaining. That is why he wants God to strike at the root of penury in his heart. He prays for strength to bear his joys and sorrows easily, with equanimity.

Rabindranath Tagore wants to serve the people. He wants to serve the poor. He wants to be one with the poor. He does not want to disown them. He does not want to bow to the insolent behaviour of the rich. He does not want to bow to their strength. He does not want to be disturbed by the daily trifles of life. He wants to raise his mind above them. The poet wants to surrender himself completely to the will of God with all love. He prays to God to give him strength for all these things.

Glossary 

penury: extreme poverty; (here) hardheartedness, lacking love and compassion

fruitful: bearing abundant fruit; producing results

insolent: disrespectful; rude

might: power

trifles: things of little value or significance

thee: you (old use)

disown: to not own

thy: your (old use)

surrender: to yield; to give up

Thinking about the poem

Q.1) Why does the poet want God to strike at his heart?

Ans) The poet implores God to strike at his heart to remove the hardheartedness and remake it with love and compassion. He wants to be a loving and caring human beings.

Q.2) What does the poet want the strength for?

Ans) The poet wants strength to bear joys and sorrows. He wants strength to make his love fruitful in service. He needs strength never to disown the poor or bow before a tyrant. Moreover, the poet needs strength to avoid the daily trifles and submit his will to the Will of God

Q.3) How can love be made meaningful in one”s life?

Ans) Love is meaningful when it bears fruits of service, service of mankind.

Q.4) What should be our attitude towards the poor?

Ans) Our attitude towards the poor should be very sympathetic. We should never disown or neglect them.

We should always help the poor and work for their welfare.

Q.5) What does “bend my knees” signify?

Ans) The bending of one‘s knees means to surrender before a powerful person. Here, the poet prays to God to give him the strength to resist and not to bend the knees before a tyrant.

Q.6) Why does the poet want to raise his mind high above “daily trifles”?

Ans) The poet wants to raise his mind high above the daily trifles so that he would not be involved in the issues that fill one‘s heart with malice and prejudice.

Q.7) Why does the poet ask for strength to surrender his will to God”s will?

Ans) The poet wants to surrender his will to the Will of God in order to live a pure and obedient life. As it is not easy to submit one‘s will, the poet prays for the strength to do so.

Prayer For Strength

                                                                

                                              Rabindranath Tagore                            

  (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941)

Born on May 7, 1861, at Jorasanko in Calcutta, Rabindranath Tagore was from a wealthy and cultured family. He began poem writing early in his childhood. He was a patriot, a philosopher, a poet, a novelist, a story writer, an educationist and a singer. However, among all this, he is best known for his occupation for being a poet. The “Amar Shonar Bangla”, “Geetanjali”, “Rabindra Sangeet” and “Ghare-Baire” are some of his important works. In 1902, he founded a University in India known as the Vishwa Bharati University at Santiniketan. Moreover, he composed “Jana Gana Mana”, the National Anthem of India. In the year 1913, he was bestowed with the Nobel Award in literature for his English translation of “Geetanjali".  He had boundless affection for his nation and citizens. In the year 1919, Tagore refused “Knighthood” in the demonstration against Jallianwala Bagh massacre.