We're used to people talking about themselves (don't we all love to do that?), but we're not used to poems talking about themselves. Tagore's "Song VII" is unusual because it's a poem that talks about itself. It can be understood as meta-poetry. One of the big themes that the poem deals with is poetry itself, and with the best ways to write poetry. "Song VII" traces a transformation in the speaker's own relationship to his poetry. While at one point he may have felt compelled to write fancy poetry, now he wants to write simple poetry, because he's discovered that it's the best way to communicate with the divine.
Questions About Literature and Writing
- Why does the speaker think that simple poetry is the best way through which he can commune with the divine?
- According to our speaker, what's the relationship between poetry and vanity? And what about the relationship between poetry and humility?
- Why does the speaker speak of God as a "master poet"? How is God a "poet"?
Chew on This
The speaker is totally right: the best poetry is simple poetry.
This poem may say that poetry comes from some higher power, but there's not poetry without an actual, you know, poet. The speaker underestimates his own importance, because it takes two to tango (er, do the poetry shuffle).