Where the Mind is Without Fear
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.
Rabindranath Tagore’s Biography
Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian poet who was born in what was then Calcutta, India, in 1861. He was and still is the foremost poet in Bengali, as well as a writer of short stories, plays, and essays, as well as a painter and composer of music.
He began writing poetry at a young age and published several books as well as a complete collection of his work throughout his life.
He was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. His goal was to combine the best of Indian and Western poetry, which is evident in his poem, Where the Mind is Without Fear.
India was still under the control of the British Empire at the time this poem was written. Tagore was awarded a knighthood in 1915, only 5 years after writing this poem, but renounced it four years later in protest of British troops killing 400 Indian demonstrators. He died in Calcutta in 1941.
Analysis of the Poem
Rabindranath Tagore wrote this poem during the pre-independence period when India was a British colony. The poem’s underlying theme is absolute freedom; the poet wishes for his country’s citizens to live in a free state.
According to the poem, the poet is expressing his views that there should be a country where people live without fear and with pure dignity…they should not feel oppressed by any authority. The concept of democracy appears to be well-received here.
Following that, education should be available to all, regardless of caste, creed, religion, or other factors. In general, there should be no social layers that prevent people from pursuing an education.
Without discrimination, one education for all. The next appeal is for the people of the country to live together, free of social barriers such as casteism, regionalism, and religion, among others.
In the following lines, the poet states that people must avoid superstitions and strive for perfection in their skill sets.
Finally, the poet begs God to awaken his country in all of the circumstances he mentioned earlier.
Setting
Where the Mind is Without Fear is set in the poet’s imagined India. This India, he hopes, will emerge following the country’s independence from British rule. However, everything that the poet imagines is happening in India in reality.
Conclusion
Finally, the poet’s message is very clear in the poem. If a nation’s people are not wise enough to live a happy and peaceful life free of all evils, they will not be able to enjoy their freedom fully.
So, according to the poet, political freedom is only important if you are fearless, self-dignified, knowledgeable, truthful, hardworking, and broad-minded enough to fully enjoy it.