Discovering the Beautiful Poem of India by the great Poet Mr. Rabindranath Tagore.

1. Where the Mind is without Fear
Rabindranath Tagore
(May 7, 1861 – August 7, 1941)

2. Literary Background of India
• Indian poetry and Indian literature in general,
has a long history dating back to Vedic times.
• Poetry in foreign languages such
as Persian and English also has a strong
influence on Indian poetry.
• The poetry reflects diverse spiritual traditions
within India. In particular, many Indian poets
have been inspired by mystical experiences.
• Poetry is the oldest form of literature and has a
rich written and oral tradition.

3. Rabindranath Tagore
• He was born at Calcutta,
Bengal Presidency, British India.
• He is the first non-European to win the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 1913.
• Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms
and the use of colloquial language into Bengali
literature.

4. • He wrote over one thousand poems;
• Eight volumes of short stories;
• Almost two dozen plays and play-lets;
• Eight novels;
• And many books and essays on
philosophy, religion, education and
social topics

5. About the Poem
• It is a prayer to a universal father-figure,
that is, the God Almighty.
• The poem, with its inspiring lines,
elaborates Tagore's vision of a new,
enlightened India.

6. Where the mind is without fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards
perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country
awake

7. Imagery
• The poet draws a picture of free India.
• He dreamt of a country with no
boundaries.
• He prays for the welfare of the country.

8. Theme
• The poet desires peace and prosperity
among his countrymen and prays that
his country might attain overall welfare
and self-reliance.
Alliteration
• the head is held high

9. Assonance
• tireless striving stretches...
Repetition of “s” sound.
• dreary desert sand of dead habit
Repetition of “d” sound.
• freedom, my Father
Repetition of “f” sound.

10. Figurative Speech
Anaphora
• The word 'where' is being repeated at
the beginning of all the
clauses/statements.
Synecdoche
• 'country' means the people of the
country.

11. Metaphor
• the big world is compared to many small
rooms separated by 'narrow domestic
walls';
• words coming out from 'the depth of truth'
gives us the impression of a fountain/spring
on the comparative level;
• 'the clear stream of reason' is a comparison
between reason and a flowing stream; and
'dead habit' that chokes the clarity of
reason is compared to 'the dreary desert';
• ‘Freedom’ is regarded as heaven.
(comparison of heaven as freedom.)

12. Personification
• ‘Tireless striving' which is an abstract
idea has been assigned with a human
aspect in 'stretches its arms‘
• ‘Country’ which is personified to be
awake.
Apostrophe
• Father, let my country awake

13. Line by Line interpretation
Lines 1-2
• The poet pledges to the Almighty that his
country should be free from any fear of
domination or forced compulsion. He wants
that everyone in his country should be free to
hold their heads high in dignity.
• He dreams of a nation where knowledge or
education would be free that is education
should not be restricted to the upper class only
but everybody should be free to acquire
knowledge.

14. Line 3
• The author wishes for a world which is not
‘fragmented’ (isolated) by prejudices based on
caste, creed, color, religion or other baseless
superstitions.
Line 4
• Prejudices and superstitions should not divide the
people in groups and break their unity.
Line 5
• He wants a nation where people are truthful, not
superficial and words should come out from the
depth of their hearts.

15. Line 6
• The author talks about desire for a country
where people would strive without getting
tired to reach perfection leaving behind
prejudices and old traditions.
Lines 7-9
• The author wants the power of reason to
dominate the minds of his countrymen, he
does not want the ‘stream of reason’ to be
lost amongst outdated customs and
traditions and only that can direct the mind
towards selfless thoughts and everlasting
action.

16. Lines 10-12
• The author asks the ‘Father’,
presumably God to awaken his country
into such a heaven of freedom.

17. Implication
• Like the author Rabindranath Togere we
should always aim for freedom; freedom
of mind, speech, thought, belief,
practice & behavior, because these are
the things that will molds us.

18. Bibliography
• beamingnotes.com
• Wikipedia.com
Reviewed by:
Ringgit Espiritu Aguilar
BSEd-3 English