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Stray Birds

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"Stray Birds" contains ideas on nature, man, and his environment as may be entertained by a man sitting by a window where the stray birds of summer sing and fly away. These short, sometimes merely one-line poems are often just an image or the distillation of a thought, but they stay in the mind and do not fly away as easily as the birds. The author, Rabindranath Tagore, was a Nobel laureate for literature (1913) as well as one of India's greatest poets and the composer of independent India's national anthem, as well as that of Bangladesh. He wrote successfully in all literary genres, but was first and foremost a poet, publishing more than 50 volumes of poetry. He was a Bengali writer who was born in Calcutta and later traveled around the world. He was knighted in 1915, but gave up his knighthood after the massacre of demonstrators in India in 1919.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1913

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About the author

Rabindranath Tagore

2,692 books4,372 followers
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West."

Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.

The complete works of Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্র রচনাবলী) in the original Bengali are now available at these third-party websites:
http://www.tagoreweb.in/
http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr....

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5 stars
790 (51%)
4 stars
482 (31%)
3 stars
198 (12%)
2 stars
43 (2%)
1 star
21 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Mila.
12 reviews
August 8, 2022
Llegué a este libro gracias a la introducción de la edición de Michael P. Predmore de "Platero y yo" de Juan Ramón Jiménez. Leyéndola, supe que tanto Juan Ramón como su esposa Zenobia Camprubí fueron los traductores de este bello e imprescindible libro de aforismos. Recomendadísimo.
Profile Image for Diego Alonso.
31 reviews7 followers
January 29, 2026
“una vez soñamos los dos que no nos conocíamos.
Y nos despertamos a ver si es verdad que nos amábamos”

qué bonita la poesía que, con tan poco, dice tanto. Un librito muy ligero de leer, y con muchos poemas y textos tan sensibles como este
Profile Image for Edwing Marroquin.
113 reviews
December 9, 2024
"No temáis nunca al instante, dice la voz de lo eterno" Tagore
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lunula Celeste.
4 reviews
December 20, 2024
Hermosas reflexiones de la vida, el mundo, la naturaleza. Pura contemplación, de lo pequeño y de aquello que nos pasa desapercibido. Nos invita a observar y detenernos para ser mejores.
Recomiendo.
118 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2025
Me gustó la edición, que rescatara la labor de traducción de Zenobia y Juan Ramón. También es primera vez que incursiono en aforismos. Máximas, es necesario entender al autor que hay detrás.
Profile Image for Víctor Longares Abaiz.
Author 3 books3 followers
February 10, 2026
Se trata de pequeñas reflexiones, a veces en forma de microrrelatos y otras de aforismos. Es un libro para leer de manera pausada, entendiendo lo que cada máxima nos dice a cada uno.
Profile Image for Sara B.
60 reviews
October 28, 2024
Poesía de lectura sencilla; algunos poemas son bastante simples, pero al mismo tiempo profundos, y muchos tienen un doble significado que realmente es genial de descubrir. Le doy dos estrellas porque, aunque está bien, no me resulta inolvidable.
Profile Image for Rossana Karunaratna.
204 reviews18 followers
December 9, 2025
Hermoso libro, que envuelve el alma. Leerlo despacio, sin prisas. Tengo una versión ilustrada con acuarelas de un artista peruano. Una joya.
Profile Image for David Jordan.
19 reviews
April 29, 2026
5⭐/100
Hermosa lectura espiritual. Ideal para leer con la mente despejada y visualizar las imágenes que Tagore plasma en sus breves poemas.

Algunos de los fragmentos que más me han gustado:
"Si de noche lloras por el sol, no verás las estrellas"

"- Mar, ¿qué estás hablando?
- Una pregunta eterna
- Tú, cielo ¿qúe respondes?.
- El eterno silencio."

"Creando se encuentra Dios a sí mismo"

"Como las gaviotas y las olas, nos encontramos y nos unimos. Se van las gaviotas, volando; se van rodando las olas; y nosotros tambien nos vamos"

"La vida se nos da, y la merecemos dándola"

"Por amor a lo imperfecto, se cuelga lo perfecto de hermosura"

"El pensamiento se come sus propias palabras, y así crece"

"En la perspectiva del corazón, ¡qué vagamente inmensa nos parece la distancia!"

"No te pido que me dejes entra en tu casa, amor mio; ¡pero entra tú en mi infinita soledad!

"Sean éstas mis últimas palabras: Confio en tu amor"
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews