Rabindranath Tagoreâs view of education in his poems The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction.

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vii ABSTRACT

Sudartomo, Martinus. 2009. Rabindranath Tagore’s View of Education in His Poems The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study program, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.

This study is conducted to analyze Tagore’s view of education from his three poems. They are The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction. These poems are the part of Tagore’s The Crescent Moon which was written in 1913. In these poems, the poet reveals some of his ideas on education.

There are two main questions which are going to be discussed in this study, namely (1) What is the explication of Tagore’s poems, entitled The Child Angel, When and Why and Benediction? and (2) What Tagore’s views of education are as reflected in his three poems, The Child Angel, When and Why and Benediction?

The study uses library research to gather the data. The primary source was taken from the poems. Some books, articles, the poet’s biography, reviews on Indian education in 1913, and some sources from the internet were selected as the secondary sources. This study uses socio-historical approach and biographical approach. The first approach was employed to answer the first question. This approach was used to find the explication of Tagore’s three poems. The second approach was employed to answer the second question. This approach was used to find Tagore’s view of education.

Through the analysis, the study discovers the explication of the poems. As any other poems in The Crescent Moon, these three poems present Tagore’s relation to child. The explication of The Child Angel shows Tagore’s love to the youth. In When and Why, Tagore presents his close relation to nature and the child. Then, Benediction shows Tagore’s spirituality that needs God’s help. In addition, the study found some of Tagore’s view of education. In The Child Angel, education is viewed as giving parents-children attention to the students. When and Why presents education that must be built based in a good atmosphere and long life learning. Benediction views education that needs spirituality. In this poem, the presence of God’s help must not be forgotten.

The last, the application of the poems in education. The study used the poems to teach reading. It focuses on the language program of the third grade of senior high school.

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viii ABSTRAK

Sudartomo, Martinus. 2009. Rabindranath Tagore’s View of Education in His Poems The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction. Yogyakarta: Program Study Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Studi ini disusun untuk menganalisa pandangan Tagore tentang pendidikan melalui tiga puisinya. Ketiga puisi tersebut adalah The Child Angel, When and Why, dan Benediction. Ketiganya merupakan bagian dari The Crescent Moon yang ditulis pada tahun 1913. Melalui ketiga puisi tersebut, penyair mengungkapkan ide-idenya tentang pendidikan.

Ada dua permasalahan mendasar yang akan dibahas dalam studi ini, yaitu (1) Apa explikasi dari puisi-puisi Tagore yang berjudul The Child Angel, When and Why dan Benediction? dan (2) Apa pandangan Tagore tentang pendidikan dalam ketiga puisinya, The Child Angel, When and Why, dan Benediction?

Studi ini menggunakan studi pustaka untuk menggali data. Sumber utama dari studi ini adalah puisi-puisi tersebut. Beberapa buku, artikel, biografi penyair, tinjauan tentang pendidikan di India tahun 1913, dan beberapa sumber dari internet digunakan sebagai sumber lain. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan formalistik dan pendekatan biografi. Pendekatan pertama digunakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan pertama. Pendekatan ini digunakan untuk mencari explikasi dari ketiga puisi Tagore. Pendekatan kedua digunakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan kedua. Pendekatan ini digunakan untuk mencari pandangan Tagore tentang pendidikan.

Melalui analisa, studi ini menemukan explikasi dari puisi-puisi tersebut. Seperti puisi-puisi lainnya dalam The Crescent Moon, ketiga puisi tersebut menggambarkan hubungan Tagore dengan anak. Explikasi The Child Angel menunjukkan cinta Tagore pada kaum muda. Dalam When and Why, Tagore menunjukkan kedekatannya dengan alam dan anak. Sebagai tambahan, studi ini menemukan pandangan Tagore tentang pendidikan. Dalam The Child Angel, pendidikan berarti memberikan perhatian orangtua-anak kepada para murid. When and Why memberi gambaran tentang pendidikan yang dibagun dalam suasana yang bagus dan pendidikan seumur hidup. Benediction memandang perlunya spiritualitas dalam pendidikan. Dalam puisi ini, manusia tidak boleh melupakan pertolongan Tuhan.

Akhirnya, studi ini sampai pada bagian penerapan puisi dalam pendidikan. Dalam studi ini, puisi-puisi tersebut digunakan untuk mengajar reading. Pelajaran tersebut ditujukan untuk anak SMA kelas 3 program bahasa.

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RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S VIEW

OF EDUCATION

IN HIS POEMS THE CHILD ANGEL, WHEN AND WHY,

AND BENEDICTION

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

Martinus Sudartomo Student Number: 03 1214 004

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

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I will run having legs

But, I will not stop for having the goal

I will fight for having hands

But, I will not lose for having the spirit

I will shout for having mouth

But, I will not shut it up for having the truth

Then, I will live for having love for everyone

(Kiyer D’great)

When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long.

Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then

look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past

cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

(Phyllis Bottome)

GOD WILL NEVER GET YOU SO FAR

JUST TO SEE YOU DOWN

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGANAKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : Martinus Sudartomo

Nomor Mahasiswa : 03 1214 004

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :

“RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S VIEW OF EDUCATION IN HIS POEMS THE CHILD ANGEL, WHEN AND WHY,

AND BENEDICTION”

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal : 21 Agustus 2009

Yang menyatakan

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vii ABSTRACT

This study is conducted to analyze Tagore’s view of education from his

three poems. They are The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction. These

poems are the part of Tagore’s The Crescent Moon which was written in 1913. In

these poems, the poet reveals some of his ideas on education.

The study uses library research to gather the data. The primary source was

taken from the poems. Some books, articles, the poet’s biography, reviews on

Indian education in 1913, and some sources from the internet were selected as the secondary sources. This study uses socio-historical approach and biographical approach. The first approach was employed to answer the first question. This

approach was used to find the explication of Tagore’s three poems. The second

approach was employed to answer the second question. This approach was used to

find Tagore’s view of education.

addition, the study found some of Tagore’s view of education. In The Child

Angel, education is viewed as giving parents-children attention to the students. When and Why presents education that must be built based in a good atmosphere and long life learning. Benediction views education that needs spirituality. In this poem, the presence of God’s help must not be forgotten.

The last, the application of the poems in education. The study used the poems to teach reading. It focuses on the language program of the third grade of senior high school.

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viii ABSTRAK

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Finally, I had done my thesis. All of the miracle from Him and the supports from others really help me in the process of writing the thesis. My deepest and greatest gratitude goes to Jesus Christ, for pouring His never-ending blessing on me and accompanying me all the time.

I am greatly indebted to V. Triprihatmini, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A., my major sponsor, for her guidance, patience, and kindness. I thank her for her advice, correction, and time to read my thesis thoroughly.

My deepest thanks are addressed to all of the English Language Education Study Program lecturers. I also would like to express thanks to Mbak Daniek, Mbak Tari, and all of the librarians for all of their assistance during my study.

I would like to extend my deepest and most sincere thanks to my parents, Y. Sugiman and A. Rokimah; it is because of them that I am who I am. I thank them for their love, care, patience, support, and never-ending prayer for me. They are my inspiration to be a better person and my motivation to finish my thesis. I thank my brother and sister, Th. Sugiyarti and St. Darmawan Wijaya for supporting me financially and psychologically.

I would like to express thanks to my relatives in VL X Generation for coloring my life in black: Bhanu, Blacky, Bem-bem, Dionz, Jatee, Bawor and Top-X. Thank you for giving me experience that life is beautiful.

My sincere appreciation goes to the big family of SMP Kanisius Borobudur, especially for Pak Harto, Pak Sri, and Pak Tik for our very hard working

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experiences. Also, SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta, especially for Suster Ancilla, and Bu Ratmi for giving me chances to learn how to be a real teacher. Furthermore, I thank BEC for the experience in teaching and hard working.

My gratitude goes to Wiwik for giving me knowledge and let me learn his wonderful idealism. I also thank Brian, Nanang, Eko Kam, Shanti, Thulik, Adi, Ucok, Diah, and Lita for the experiences in Mudika. All that we have done together really inspire me to be a tough and independent person. I express my gratitude to PBI-98: Mas Topo and Mbak Maria for the translation work; PBI-02: Dedy Edogawa, Gede, Dhani, Galih Purnomo; PBI-03: Gaboo, Trek, Ji’i, Lukas, Dono, Sukie, Edu, Ayu, Yusta, Layung; PBI-04: An, Jody, Marshel; PBI-05: Wahyu. Thank you for the experiences, madness, sadness and happiness. For EEPRO, I thank for the incredible works and experiences. My gratitude to the play performance crew, especially “Willow Creek”, thank you for let me learn to work in a team. Adiwijayanti, I thank you for filling my loneliness with your smile and fun experiences.

Then, my special thanks to my “little angel”, my beloved one, Euducia

Wening Rahayu Maharani. I thank her for the light in my life and much for being light of my life. I also thank her for her patience, understanding, care, and support.

Furthermore, I thank to everybody who has given me support in the process of writing this thesis that cannot be mentioned here.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ... i

PAGES OF APPROVAL ... ii

PAGE OF DEDICATION ... iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI... vi

ABSTRACT ... vii

ABSTRAK ... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2. Problem Formulation ... 3

1.3. Problem Limitation ... 3

1.4. Objectives of the Study ... 4

1.5. Benefits of the Study ... 4

1.6. Definition of the Terms ... 4

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 7

2.1. Review of Related Theories ... 7

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xii

2.1.2. Theory of Explication ... 10

2.1.3. Theory of Education ... 11

2.2. Biography of Rabindranath Tagore and His Views of Education ... 13

2.2.1 Biography of Rabindranath Tagore ... 13

2.2.2 Tagore’s View of Education ... 16

2.3. Review on Indian Education ... 19

2.3.1. Ancient Education ... 19

2.3.2. Modern Education ... 20

2.4. Theoretical Framework ... 22

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ... 23

3.1. Object of the Study ... 23

3.2. Approach of the Study ... 24

3.3. Method of the Study ... 25

CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS ... 26

4.1. The Explication of the Poems ... 26

4.1.1 The Explication of The Child Angel ... 26

4.1.2. The Explication of When and Why ... 35

4.1.3. The Explication of Benediction ... 40

4.2. Tagore’s View on Education Reflected in His Poems ... 47

4.2.1. Tagore’s View on Education Reflected in The Child Angel ... 47

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xiii

4.2.3. Tagore’s View on Education Reflected in Benediction ... 52

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 55

5.1. Conclusions ... 55

5.1.1. The Explication of The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction ... 55

5.1.2. Tagore’s View of Education on The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction... 56

5.2. Suggestions ... 57

5.2.1. Suggestion to Future Researchers ... 57

5.2.1. Suggestion for Teaching Reading ... 58

REFERENCES ... 61

APPENDICES ... 63

1. The Child Angel ... 64

2. When and Why ... 65

3. Benediction ... 66

3. Lesson Plan for Teaching Reading ... 67

4. Material for Teaching Reading ... 70

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1 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The first chapter consists of six parts. The first part is the background of

study. It reveals the writer’s reason for conducting the study. The second part is

the problem formulation. It conveys the problems that are discussed in the study. The third part is the problem limitation. It gives a clear border of the study being discussed. The fourth part is the objective of the study. It shows the aims of the study. The fifth part is the benefits of the study. It reveals the advantages of the study for other researchers and the importance of the study to the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The definition of terms, which clarifies the terms used in the study, is the last part.

A. Background of the Study

This study stems from the curiosity of the writer to reveal how a poet can express his idea through poems. The writer thinks that it is interesting to study

someone’s thought which is expressed through literary works. Therefore, the writer invites the readers to learn other’s thought to sharpen their knowledge.

As the part of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, which trains someone to be a teacher, the writer feels that it is necessary to deepen his knowledge on education. One way to deepen knowledge

of education is studying other’s thought of education. Therefore, other’s views

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This study chooses to find view of education through poem for the reason that both of them can be related to one another. Poem is one kind of literary works that has unique elements and becomes a way to deliver someone’s thoughts, views, and ideas. On the other hand, education relates to the process of delivering knowledge from one to another. Poem might be one of the ways to deliver knowledge or idea on education. There are some people who are able to express their idea on education through poems. One of the people who can write down the idea about education in poem is Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian poet and educator, has magnificent thought in education. He is able to convey his thought in education through his works, which most of them are on poems. Through the symbols, themes and the elements of poems, Tagore conveys his profound thought on education. His works are widely known by Indian people and other people all over the world. The Indian education was also being influenced, due to the strength of Tagore’s writing. His thought that the Indian should not forget tradition still influences the Indian education up to the present. Therefore, the writer chooses Tagore’s poems.

There are more than thousands of poems of Tagore, but this study chooses his three poems, namely The Child Angel, When and WhyandBenediction. They are part of his book, The Crescent Moon, which was written in 1913. The writer is interested in those three poems because they convey Tagore’s thought in

education. Tagore’s thought of education conveyed on those poems are unique. He uses symbols, simile, personification or any other poetic device to draw his ideas. In addition, the characteristics of Indian poets, such as the mysticism,

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religious aspects, etc, appear in those poems. Thus, the uniqueness makes the poems worth studying.

India and Indonesia have similar history in terms of history as the colony of other country. This situation affects their education system and ideology. For that reason, this study has the significance to Indonesian education. First, the

Indonesian can study Tagore’s view of education as a comparison to Indonesian education. Second, Tagore’s view may inspire the Indonesian education of today.

The third, Tagore’s struggle in education and his spirit in developing education also similar to some Indonesian education figures, such as Ki Hadjar Dewantara, R. A Kartini and so on. Thus, the today’s Indonesian educator can learn from them.

B. Problem Formulation

The study intends to answer the following questions.

1. What is the explication of Tagore’s poem, entitled The Child Angel, When and Why and Benediction?

2. What Tagore’s views of education are as reflected in his three poems, The Child Angel, When and Why and Benediction?

C. Problem Limitation

This part affirms limitations of the study in order to avoid broader focus.

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his three poems, they are The Child Angel, When and WhyandBenediction. This

study focuses on Tagore’s biography to find his views of education.

D. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problem formulation above, the objectives of the study are stated as follows.

1. The goal of the study is to observe the explication of Rabindranath Tagore’s three poems, namely The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction.

2. The study is aimed to observeTagore’s views of education as reflected in his three poems,The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction.

E. Benefits of the Study

The study has some benefits. The readers are able to get more knowledge of

someone’s view on education, especially Tagore’s view. The study presents

Tagore’s biography, hopefully his biography arise reader’s motivation, especially in education. For the English Education Language Study Program, especially the students, of Sanata Dharma University, this study may enrich the study program with some education views from Tagore. The implementation of this study in language teaching will be presented in the lesson plan to teach reading.

F. Definition of Terms

The writer states some terms in order to avoid misconception. The terms are stated as follows.

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1. Education

Education has many interpretations, but in this study, education means "to

lead out”. The word “education” came from Latin e-ducere. Education was about drawing out what was already within the students. So, it means that education just develops the talent which has been acquired by the students. Education, according to Hornby (369), is “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university”.

Other definition comes from Driyarkara (126-128). He states that

“education and to educate are fundamental problem”. They are activities which changes human life, including the students and the educator. In addition from his thought, education is a process to “born” a new human being. Mayer (11), quoted from John Dewey, regards that “education is a reconstruction of experience which gives meaning to our existence and which aids us in the direction of subsequent experience”.

In this study, education’s goal is a way of making a full human being. There are many aspects to concern in achieving the goal but this study only grasps only to some aspects. The first is about how to treat the students. The second, there must be religious aspect included in an education. The third, an educator needs a willingness for a long life learning, where s/he can study from many sources including his or her students and environment.

2. View

According to Hornby(1327), “view is a personal opinion or attitude; a thought or comment on something”. Nevertheless, view has other interpretation.

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Philosophically, view defines as someone's way to understand and to think about things happening around him in present or in past (www.swami_krishnanendra.org/phil/phil_ola.html). Then, it will be resulted in wisdom.

Here, in this study, view is considered as someone’s opinion or thought

about a topic. However, such opinion is implemented in such a way so that people around him can also learn from him.

3. Explication

According to Barnet, Berman, & Burto (1258), “explication is a line-by-line commentary on what is going on in a texts”. However, it is different from pharaphrase. This kind of analysis is more detail. The detail includes allutions, denotations and connotations of words, symbols, sounds and rhythms, irony and other particular. Kennedy & Gioia (609) states that “explication tries to examine and unfold all the details in a poem that a sensitive reader might consider”.

In this study, the writer regards explication as the analysis of the poem in certain detail. There are many details can be seen. The details which is included in this study are symbols, rhythms, connotations and irony.

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7 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This study is divided into three main parts. First, review of related theories. Second, review on the historical-biographical background. The last is the theoretical framework. They are presented as follows.

A. Review of Related Theories

This part reveals some theories which relates to the study. They are Critical Approach, Theory of Poetry, Explication Theory and Education Theories. The theories are presented as follow.

1. Critical Approach

Critical approach in literature is commonly used since it is easy to conduct. The theories of critical approach in this study are taken from two sources. They are Rohrberger, and Diana and Gioia.

Rohrberger starts the theory of critical approach to literature by comparing it to impressionistic approach. It is said that critical approach is different from impressionistic approach in terms of viewing literature. Impressionistic approach seems too subjective in studying a literary works. In contrary, there is critical approach to literature. Critical approach to literature regards art to have esthetic value. The esthetic value in literature is the part of applied esthetic, which studies

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art and the nature of beauty. Therefore, this approach involves esthetic response to find the esthetic value.

Critical approach regards that literature’s verbal structure has meaning. Therefore, the process in critical approach begins with understanding that words

are used together to shape meaning. The meaning involves one’s experience and knowledge which are valuable. It enables them to participate vicariously. Then, in doing so, it leads the words to greater knowledge and eventual wisdom.

According to Rohrberger, critical approach to literature necessitates an understanding of its nature, function and positive values. He divides critical approach into six, namely formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural-historical approach, mythopoeic approach, and psychological approach. However, this study uses some of them which are appropriate to the context of the study. They are sociocultural-historical approach, biographical approach and sociocultural-historical approach.

The first approach, sociocultural-historical approach, regards that someone must locate the civilization as the reference to study. This statement is based on two reasons. The first reason is that literature is not created in vacuum. There is always situation which becomes the background. The second reason is that the ideas in the literature have significant meaning to the culture that produces it. According to this approach, there are always philosophies of life which can be expressed and viewed in moral terms.

The second approach, biographical approach, involves the author’s biography to understand his writing. This approach regards art as the reflection of

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personality. Therefore, the reader needs to find the information about the author’s life as much as possible. The author’s life may have fascinated the reader, but the reader may not present their judgment on author’s life in analyzing the literary works.

Kennedy and Gioia state ten critical approaches to literature. Their finding is different from Rohrberger, who only states five approaches. However, Kennedy and Gioa have the same idea that criticism can be based on some disciplines. Kennedy and Gioia state that the approaches are not mutually exclusive, the reader may mix methods to suit their needs and interests. The ten approaches mentioned by Kennedy and Gioia are formalist criticism, biographical criticism, historical criticism, psychological criticism, mythological criticism, sociological criticism, gender criticism, reader-response criticism, deconstructionist criticism, and cultural studies. However, not all of them are included in this study. This study emphasizes on historical criticism and biographical criticism.

The first approach, historical criticism, regards the social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced literature play important role in analyzing the literary work. The reader may use them to comprehend the literary works deeper. It begins by exploring the possible ways in which the meaning of the text has changed over time.

The second approach, biographical criticism, believes that literature is written by actual people. Thus, the reader can comprehend the work thoroughly

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underlines the important meaning of the poems. The focus of this approach is explicating literary work using the insight provided by the author’s life.

2. Theory of Explication

There are many ways to analyze a poem. One of them is explication. Explication has close relation to formalist approach since both of them comprehend the form of literary works. Explicating, as stated by Kenedy and Gioia (609), “explains the entire poem in detail, unravels any complexities to be found in it”. The complexities can be found either in extrinsic element or in intrinsic element of the poem. In this study, the explication unfolds every detail of the poems in terms of forms, rhetoric, figurative language and its vocabularies.

Explicating a poem must be in a great detail. Abcarian, Klotz and Richardson (39) state that an explication is essentially a demonstration of your thorough understanding of a work. Similar to opening a book, explicating a poem needs an extensive reading of the poem to understand its meaning. Therefore, the writer must read the poem more than once. If necessary, reading aloud must be done. The writer will find the soul of the poem as they read it again and again.

There are some steps in explicating poems. The first step is reading the poem straight through once. The explication should follow the structure of the poem itself. It starts with the first line and ends with the last. The second step is

making several general points about the poem’s structure and main purpose before

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However, according to http://uwp.aas.duke.edu /wstudio, there are three main tasks in explicating poem. The first is taking the poem apart into its smallest units and study them on their own terms. The second discusses about how those units relate to each other. The third is making connections between these smaller units and the poem as a whole.

3. Theory of Education

The word “education” has been defined in the first chapter. However, there

is no perfect definition of education. Every expert has his or her own definition. For that reason, this study only presents some education theories which support the study.

Human life starts from baby, child, adult then old. Every stage is different one to another. The first stage, baby, s/he learns by imitating their environment. In the second stage, child, human being starts to learn from their environment and needs encouragement from the people from their above stages. According to Driyarkara, education is important in human life. It becomes the foundation of human life. Starting from the human being born, they need education. He states

that education starts at the beginning of someone’s life. Therefore, his ideas in

education focused on the education for the young learner. Driyarkara (127) states as follow.

Mendidik….ialah pemanusiaan manusia muda (anak), dan ini berarti homonisasi dan humanisasi… berarti pengangkatan manusia muda sampai sedemikian tingginya sehingga dia bisa menjalankan hidupnya sebagai manusia dan membudayakan diri.

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To educate…is making the youth become a fully human being, by the means

of homonization and humanization….it means the promoting of the youth so

that they can live as a human being and culture himself.

Education is important in building a full human being. Therefore, Driyarkara states two fundamental activities in education. They are hominisasi and

humanisasi. The main goal of those activities is creating a full human being. Driyarkara states that “human life is established by education. Both educator and learner, determine their own life through activities in education”. For the educator, to educate means determining an attitude for the learner. In contrary, it is obvious that the learner accept the knowledge from the educator.

Driyarkara states three principles in education. The first, to educate is an influence from person who is responsible to the child so that they can grow into adult. Second, education is life unity of father, mother and son, where the process of making human happens. In short, family plays an important role in child’s education.

Along with Driyarkara’s statement, UNESCO, as the international organization which concerns with education, has its own statement on education. It regards human as the perfect creature. Human beings have free mind and thinking. However the people are still struggling to create the “perfect” human being. They made their own limitation about education and also ways to educate people to be full human being.

In order to support the statements above, the writer put UNESCO’s

statements on education. UNESCO is chosen since it is an international education organization. It states some purposes in education. First, it states that human being

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is not an object of education. They have their own status in education. Human being is creative, so education must encourage human being to be creative. Second, human being is inseparable from the society since they are social creature. To conclude, UNESCO states that education must prepare human being for their society including its social structure.

Education is not an instant way to make a full human being. Education is a learning process. During the process, teachers and students are transferring knowledge. It is not merely the teachers who transfer his ideas or knowledge to the students. It is both sides transferring knowledge one another. One of the theories of learning came from experiential learning. Kolb (38) states that

“learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. The process emphasizes on the process of adaptation and learning as opposed to content or outcomes. Thus, Kolb regards knowledge as a transformation process, being continuously created and recreated not as an independent entity to be acquired or transmitted.

B. Biography of Rabindranath Tagore and His View of Education

In this part, the study presents two things. The first is biography of Tagore.

The second is Tagore’s view of education. It is presented as follows.

1. Biography of Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore, a teacher and a poet, was born in Calcuta on 6 May 1861. He was born in a wealthy Brahmin family. He was the youngest child in the

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family. His father, Debendranath Tagore, was a leader of Brahmo Samaj, a religious sect in Bengal which was based on Hinduism as laid down in the

Upanishad. His mother, Sarada Devi, died when Tagore was very young. His family was a gifted family that has many talents and was genius. As we can see,

his brother Dweijendranath, Tagore’s eldest brother, was a philosopher. Jyotirindra, his other brother was an amateur artist and known for his drawing. The third brother was the first Indian to enter Civil Service. Then, his nephews, Abanindranath and Gaganedranath were the Great Twin Brethren of Bengali. Thus, Tagore lived and grew up in the house of India renaissance.

On his personal life, Tagore was a loyal man. His wife was Mrinalini Devi Raichaudhuri. Tagore married her in 1883 and moved to East Bengal. He had two sons; they are Rathindranath Tagore and Samindranath Tagore, and three daughters; they are Madhurilata Tagore, Mira Tagore and Renuka Tagore. In 1941, Tagore died on his eighty. He never remarried after his wife passed away in 1902.

As a Bengal Poet, Rabindranath Tagore wrote most of his poem in Bengali

language. But, some of them have been translated into English. At the age of six, he studied classical poetry of Kalidasa. Thompson (4) said that he had been the representative man of his time, in touch with fullness of his intellectual heritage. He was able to combine the style of great Sanskrit Literature and good diction.

As a teacher, Rabindranath Tagore had various education backgrounds. When he was a child, he was educated by some tutors and variety of schools. He described his family as the product of "a confluence of three cultures: Hindu,

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Mohammedan, and British". Those three cultures enriched Tagore’s view.

However, much of Tagore's ideologies came from the teaching of the Upanishads

and from his own beliefs that God can be found through personal purity and service to others. He stressed the need for the new world order based on transnational values and ideas, the "unity consciousness." He studied history and culture in Bengal Academy. He travelled to England in 1878 in hope of becoming a barrister. He studied law at University College London. However, he left University College London and was back to India in 1880 for the reason that his father had arranged his marriage to Mrinalini Devi Raichaudhuri. Though he had various formal educations, there was not any place for his real education. Thomson (6) states, “his real education came, not from the desultory and experimental alternation of tutor and school… but from the whole circumstances of his life”.

Through his thought, education could be obtained through many ways and the freedom of mind. He founded a school at Santiniketan (Abode of Peace). His school was built in 1901. It was an independent school since the school never had much money for the low fees. The government did not pay attention to this school. However, the school grew into an international university, Visva-Bharati, in 1921. Thomson (35) states that “this school was founded for his thought that his country seemed to him so broken and scattered, that the first need was to give it some centre where it might concentrate”. So, the school uses both imaginative and innovative system of education. He combined the western and eastern philosophy at this school. Even Satyajit Ray, an alumnus of Santiniketan, said:

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I consider the three years I spent in Santiniketan as the most fruitful of my

life…. Santiniketan opened my eyes for the first time to the splendorous of

Indian and Far Eastern art…Santiniketan made me the combined product of East and West that I am.

At this school, where he wrote many of his works, Tagore tried to combine traditional Indian culture with Western ideas. All the children contributed significantly to Bengali literature and culture. His writings influence the students and teachers of the school and lead the school to take a major part in India’s social, political and cultural movement.

As one of Indian hero, Tagore fought the freedom of India through his own way. It was different from his friend, Mahatma Gandhi, who fought the freedom of India through political movement. He struggled for the freedom of India with his poems, novels, short stories, plays and songs. His works helped the Indian to gain their independence by burning their spirit, as stated by http://www.terebess.hu/english/tagore4.html (accessed on Monday, May 20 2008) As a multifaceted genius and renaissance man par excellence, he not only carried the literature and arts of Bengal, virtually single-handedly, to dizzying heights of creativity, but, by his inspiring words, his lyrically unequalled songs, his unstinting support for the cause of India's freedom during a long and turbulent phase of her history, he lifted Indian culture and the Indian psyche to an unprecedented level of revitalization.

2. Tagore’s View of Education

Tagore, education, culture and religion are four integral things. Many of

Tagore’s thought are the combination of those things. The philosophy of Indian

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are presented in many practical aspects, as stated by Sardi (66) quoted from Ki Hajar Dewantara as follows.

Tagore menekankan segi religious sebagaimana biasa dalam system filsafat India, dan juga segi-segi praktis atau ketrampilan.

Tagore stresess on religious aspects as stated in Indian philosophy and also practical aspects and skills.

As an educator, Tagore often criticized the education in Europe. He stated that western education as a huge bag which contains many papers and lessons but forget the human soul. Sardi (66) states, “It creates emptiness in human soul”. He does not reject the thought from western culture but he assimilates it with the eastern view. His thought is that the Indian needs to be educated in both the best of their own tradition and the best of the western tradition. Tagore quoted in Palmer, Bresler, & Cooper (192) states that “education is a living, not a mechanical process, and is a truth as freely admitted as it is persistenly ignored”. In addition, he states, “education should be more or less the same quality for all humanity needful for its evolution of perfection”, as said by Tagore to Leonard K. Elmhirst.

Tagore sees education in two ways. The first, he sees education from the

student’s view. He regards his students as the future of his country because they

have their dreams. However, a dream is just a dream when people do not work for it. So, Tagore expects his students to reach their dream and work for it. Tagore regards that each of his students has his/her own talents that must be developed

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and guided. In addition, the society in their educational environment has to be able to support them, as stated by Tagore in Chakravarty (208) as follows.

… Today the human soul is lying captive in the dungeon of a Giant Machine, and I ask you, my young princes, to feel this enthusiasm in your hearts and be willing to rescue the human soul from the chains of greed.

The students are the youth that must be carefully guided and developed. They must be filled with knowledge and skills for their life. Tagore expresses his guidance through the appreciation of culture. He digs up his own culture and teaches it to the students.

The second, he sees education from the teacher’s view. Tagore warns the

teachers that the students are so much precious for the country. He does not want to torture the students with machined-made lessons. Otherwise, a life lesson is necessary to build the students. Therefore, he dreams about education which enables the students to obtain their own educational value from the nature. They will be able to gain the value from the nature. In his idealism, classroom is not the most important thing. The most important thing in this education is creating a good atmosphere for the students.

The two ideas above are represented in Tagore’s school, Visvabharati. It is the citizen school which never chase for wealth, as Chakravarty (220) quotes from

Tagore “wealth is a golden cage in which the children of the rich are bred into artificial deadening of their powers”. In its simplicity, the school leads the

students to personal experience of the world.

In addition, the mixtures of the western and eastern ideas on education are also presented in his school. In this school, the teacher and students are helping

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each other. Through ashram life, the students learn about life, and the teachers are helping the students as a part of their life and not of their profession.

C. Review on the Indian Education

This part discusses the Indian education. The discussion starts with the ancient Indian education. Then, the discussion continues to the modern Indian education system, especially around 1913.

1. Ancient Education

Indian education unifies with religion and philosophy. There are many education thought in India. However, the study only mentions the two thoughts of education which are the most well developed. They are Upanishad and Buddhism.

The history of teaching Upanishad was started in 800-400 B.C. It is not stated who started this thought. In ancient time, the teaching of Upanishad was held in some schools. There are six kinds of schools. The first is private school. The second is Pashasd. This school regards teacher as the center of education. The third is Forest College that focuses on contemplation. The fourth is temple school. This kind of school focuses on religious instructions and it was developed after 500 A.D. The fifth is Matha. In this school, the students learn about Vedas

and Upanishad through Brahmin learning. The sixth is Vidyapatha. This school is more liberal than Matha.

The main aim of Upanishad is to liberate the unique capacity of human being as a divine spirit. This thought regards human beings to have a free soul.

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However, this thought constraints the education in caste system. The real education, in Upanishad, should teach human beings to beware of sense of objects.

In Upanishad, teacher has the greatest contribution in education. Teachers get the great respect from the students. Teachers become the center of teaching

learning process. Thus, the students learn from the teacher’s life and behavior.

The second religion that affects Indian education thought is Buddhism. The education thought of Buddhism is different from Upanishad. Buddhism does not select the students based on caste. It has strict law in education that children start their studies at the age of six and complete at the age of twenty. Buddhism is divided into three sects. They are Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, and

Zen Buddhism. In Buddhism, education implies the clearing away of all biases and prejudices. Mayer (45) states that “The real knowledge is based on intuition and unities an understanding of nature with a comprehension of the self”.

2. Modern Education

The study discusses the modern education in India around 1900-1920. It was the time when Britain ruled India. Thus, all social aspects were ruled by the government. Education would not be the exception. Britain made their education system that created new strata in India. It was the strata of intelligent people who would work in the British government for the sake of Britain interest. This condition made the caste system became worst.

The British government introduced modern education concept. The British government also introduces English in education. It forces the pupil to use foreign

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language to study. The British government also brings the concept of studying in the classroom. Thompson (197) states that “modern education in Bengal is machine-made and spurious, mere memorization in a foreign tongue”. This

situation regards human as “machine” which can be controlled or ruled and education was deserved as transferring teacher’s knowledge to the students. It

emphasizes on the cognitive aspect in education but forgets the affective aspect and religious aspect in education. Such condition was the opposite of Indian native education system. The ancient Indian education was more emphasize on

affective aspect. The model of ancient Indian can be found on Tagore’s school. It used the open-air class, religious emphasis, and a close relationship between pupil and teacher.

Though the modern education brought new caste and emphasized on cognitive aspects, there were some advantages for the Indian. Smith (757) stated that “Western Education had made them what they were and provided them with

new ideals, new hopes and new ambitions”. It opened the thought of the people in

India about new idea in education. The system brought new concept of education. Western Education in India gave hope to the people of India about their independence. Many people in India are able study that made them cleverer than before and realized the condition of their country. The intelligent people of India

got their new ambition on India’s independence.

The development of Indian education cannot be separated from the educational policy. There was new movement in Indian education. The government states Universities Act in 1904. Majumdar (880) states that “This act

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brought a very significant change in the Universities and constituted an important landmark in the progress of higher education in India. In 1910, the government shoed the importance of education by creating a new department of education

under separate member of Viceroy’s council. This step was the beginning of

government’s interference in Indian education after the University Act.

As a conclusion, the modern education, which was brought by British government, is a two-sides-sword to the people of India. It has two effects for the Indian. They are positive and negative effect.

D. Theoretical Framework

There are some theories applied in the study. They are the tools to answer the problems stated in problem formulation. The first theory presented in this chapter is explication theory. The explication theory is used as the way to reveal every detail of the poem. Along with this theory, the formalist approach is used. Formalist approach is used to study the poem from its form.

Then, to answer the second problem, the poet’s view towards education in

the poems, biographical approach is employed. This theory gives information

about Tagore’s background on his life, education, school and works. Biographical approach provides a review of Tagore’s life which influences his works. However,

some education theories are employed in this study. The theories are used as the

instrument to find Tagore’s view of education. The theories are compared to

Tagore’s biography and other educator movements in western, Indonesia, and India.

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23 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

In chapter three, the study discusses methodology used in this study. The study is divided into three parts. They are object of the study, approach of the study, and method of the study. The first part, object of the study, discusses about the poems and the background of the poet. The second part explains the approaches used in this chapter. It presents the approaches employed in the study, its description, reasons for selecting them, and the procedure taken in its application. The third part presents the method of the study. It describes the steps taken in analyzing the poem.

A. Object of the Study

The primary data of this study are poems written by Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian poet, novelist, play writer, song conductor, and painter, who had written thousands of poems, almost a dozen of short stories, some plays, conduct songs and draw some pictures. This study analyzes three poems; they are The Child Angel, When and Why and Benediction. Those poems can be found in Tagore’s The Crescent Moon published in 1913. This book is one of his famous books, even Nobel Prize Organization (2008) states that “The Crescent Moon is one of

Tagore’s sensational works”. It is also one of his works which is translated into English. His other books are Gitanjali, Sadhana, The Hungry Stones and many more.

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The three poems on the study present some views and thought in education. The first poem, The Child Angel, is presented in free verse. It is a poem which reveals a fighting spirit in education. This poem presents the condition in India, which was in chaotic situation. Along with the poem, the poet persuades the reader to keep their fighting spirit. He invites the readers to be brave and to face the world with the head stands up. The second poem, When and Why, consists of four stanzas. In general, the poem presents the humbleness in education. It presents that even a teacher can learn new things from the students. The third poem, Benediction, reveals the spirituality in education. The form of the poem is more likely a prayer of a teacher for their students.

B. Approach of the Study

This part explains about the approach employed in the study. There are five approaches presented by Rohrberger in critical approaches, which are formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural-historical approach, mythopoeic approach, and psychological approach. However, the study chooses some approaches. This study uses socio-historical approach and biographical approach.

Socio-historical approach sees literary works from the situation arround the poet or writer. Relating the poems with the situation arround the poet enable the writer to find the meaning of the poems. Then, in order to see the poet’s view of education, biographical approach is employed. It sees literary works from the

poet’s biographical background. It enriches the reader’s appreciation through

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C. Method of the Study

This study used library research to gather the data. Library research is selected because the data used are mostly in literary sources. In order to add some sources, the study also presented some data from the internet.

There were two kinds of sources used in this study. They were primary source and secondary source. The primary source is the poems itself. They are The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction by Rabindranath Tagore. They

are part of Tagore’s book, The Crescent Moon, which was published in 1913. The second sources were the books, articles, the poet’s biography, reviews on the condition of India in 1913, and some other sources. Some of the sources also were taken from the internet. It is because the writer found difficulty in

finding Tagore’s biographical data.

There were some steps taken in the study. The first step was reading the poems. This process could not be done one time, but the writer needed to read the poems for many times to get deeper understanding about the poem. The next step was finding the topic to be analyzed in the study. The third step was looking for

the poems’ detail as a part of explication. The fourth step was finding the

biographical data of the poet since the study uses Biographical approach. Next, the writer tried to answer the problems. The last step was concluding the results of the study.

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26 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

In the fourth chapter, the study presents the analysis of the poem. The first analysis is about the explication of each poem. This is also the analysis of the surface meaning of the poem. The second analysis is about Tagore’s view of education, which also analyze the deeper meaning of the poems. The analyses are presented as follows.

A. The Explication of the Poems

There are three poems, which are being explicated in this part. They are The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction. The explication focuses on the

poem’s form, figurative language, and vocabularies. Then, the discussion of each

stanza will follow.

1. The Explication of The Child Angel

The Child Angel is one of Tagore’s poems. The poem consists of 15 lines. It consists of six stanzas and one additional stanza in form of line. Therefore, the total stanzas of this poem are seven stanzas. The language of the poem is a combination between imperatives and figurative language. The poet mostly uses imperative at the beginning of a stanza (see line 3, 7, 10 and 12). The Child Angel

is a part of Tagore’s The Crescent Moon. This poem presents a relation between the poet and the child, as the main character that appear mostly in The Crescent

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Moon. In addition, the poem has three sentences statement that tell the situation around the child. They can be seen in the first, third, and the last stanza. In short,

this Tagore’s poem shows the child’s character as a loveable and pure creature. Starting with the title, The Child Angel, the writer finds it full of meaning.

The combination between two creatures, “Child” and “Angel”, arouses the writer’s idea that the poet uses simile in the title. The simile compares two creatures. They are the child and the angel. A child often has the connotation of the beginning level of human beings. It has some characteristics, namely weak, pure, and inexperienced. They know nothing about what happen in its environment or around them. As a weak creature, child still needs guidance from the adults and encouragements to face their life and become good things or agent of change for their society. There are some encouragements on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth stanza. However, since the child is still pure, they have yet understood the situation around them. Therefore, the poet gives clear situation around the child. They are the image of cruelty and chaotic situation. The images are obviously seen by the writer at the first time reading the poem.

The other creature to compare is angel. The word “angel” always excites the writer. It arouses the curiosity and excitement about this kind of creature. Though

God creates human as a “perfect” creature, this kind of creature has a special ability compared to human beings. That is why many people believe that angel is

a God’s messenger. The angel often reminds human of God’s will and there are

some examples about its presence. The bible tells about the presence of angel at least three times. We can see it by the time it was sent to let mother Marry know

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that she would be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Many stories depict angel as a very kind and good creature. No one will deny those truths, even Hornby (39) states that “angel” is a spirit who is believed to be the servant of God. In addition, this term is also being used to depict a very good and kind person.

In addition, the bible often depicts angel as the creature that fights Satan. Its bravery saves human beings from Satan, which symbolizes anger, cruelty, horror, and many other bad things. The bible uses Michael as the symbol of angel that is depicted as a good creature. However, some of the angels turned to be bad. Passion had made them turn into bad creature. One that is well known is Lucifer. He turns into bad as he wishes to be like God. His greed and envy to human also become the reason of his becoming bad. The power and authority that God gave to him made him lost control.

“Child” and “angel” are compared because they have some similarities. Basically, both of them are pure. Like a piece of paper, they are still white. However, a child still needs guidance so that they will not choose the wrong way of life. The child is similar to the angel that has two types. They are good angel and bad angel. However, the angels are good basically. Some of the angels turn into bad because they are greed. It is their passion that changed them. In the title, the poet uses simile to explain the similarities of those two creatures. The poet arouses readers’ interest to see the pureness of child and ask them to guide the child, who is pure, to be a good person like a good angel. The depiction of them is a kind of simile that the poet did on the poem.

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In the discussion of each stanza, the study starts from the first stanza. The first stanza of The Child Angel explicitly explains the situation of the society. This situation will continue to the third stanza. In those two stanzas, the poet

presents “they” to point out to the society. In the first stanza, the poet tells about many people demanding for something that makes them fight one another. They doubt and despair of what happens around them. The people told in the poem are those who has lost their hope and do not know when they are going to stop their fight and quarrell. They doubt and despair of their life. The poet makes the iambic meter predominate the first stanza, as if he wants to talk to the reader. However, the writer found anapestic in the first stanza. The poet uses anapestic to stress the condition of the society. It functions as a door which opens the condition of the fights, clamor, doubt, despair and quarrelling to the stage that the reader can see it as if it is in front of them. The spirit that the poet brings cannot be seen without entering the gate of the first stanza.

They clamour and fight, they doubt and despair, they know no end to their wranglings.

Next, in the second stanza, the poet invites the child to be the “flame of

light”. The symbol of flame means light for around it. It makes the situation around visible. In addition, the light means awareness of the situation around. The

symbol draws the poet’s expectation for the child to become the agent of change towards the situation of the society. For that reason, the poet presents the child explicitly in the last part of the second line of the second stanza. In addition, the

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child’s character is still present. The poet uses the word “pure” to depict the

child’s character.

The symbolization of spirit through “flame of light” is a simile. The poet

compared “the flame of light” with living among the chaotic society. The poet’s

simile draws an invitation for the child. The poet invites the youth to burn their spirit and become a flame of light which could light up the people around them. The youth must not be afraid of the situation around him/her. The poet reflects the situation in the society by using the word “unflickering”. Therefore, the poet invites the child to be brave in facing their life.

The poet has another expectation too. His other expectation is presented in the final goal of “light”. It is located in the last part of the second stanza, “delight

them into silence”. This part actually presents the idea to avoid any confrontation and act calmly so that a peaceful situation appears. This idea is in agreement with

the poet’s life.

The second stanza has variation in meter. The poet uses iambic in the beginning of the stanza and ends with anapestic in the second line of the second stanza. Variations on the second line of the second stanza portray persuasion. The poet persuades the child to act calmly and peacefully. In addition, the variation let

the readers see the poet’s spirit. Thus, the persuasion in this stanza is presented

using the variation of meter.

Let your life come amongst them like a flame of light, my child, unflickering and pure, and delight them into silence.

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Another situation around the child continues on the third stanza. The poet symbolizes a society that is full of greediness and envy. The representation of chaotic situation and fearful situation is presented in a simile. It compares “words”

with “hidden knives”. A knife is often described as a short weapon used to attack enemy that is nearby. It is an effective weapon to attack the enemy. Like the words, a knife also has another good function. Both knife and word are things, can be usefull or dangerous for others according to its user. The similarity of the words and knives might be the reason of the poet to compare them. Then, a

personification follows. “knives thirsting for blood” is a personification for knives

as a dead thing which cannot feel thirsty unlike human. However, the poet

represents them as thirsty things. The word “thirsty” may be interpreted as

someone who is never satisfied with the things they got, as an adult who always chases power and anything that can be done by them. The anapestic meter in this stanza presents terror to the reader. It brought up the chaotic situation which could kill someone inside the society. The lyrics of the stanza bring the reader deeper into the situation of chaos.

They are cruel in their greed and their envy, their words are like hidden knives thirsting for blood.

In the fourth stanza, we can find another persuasion towards the child. The poet uses the imperative go and stand. The imperatives show direct order to the children. The poet orders the child to go in the middle of unkind situation as presented in the first and the third stanza. What the child should do is the same as

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presented in the second stanza. A peace movement to end the chaotic situation is necessary. In this stanza, the poet stresses more about that situation. This stanza ends up with retelling the situation of the society which is full of conflict as stated

“The strife of the day”, which means conflict between people.

Another simile appears in this stanza. The poet compares “gentle eyes” and

“the forgiving peace” in the second line of the stanza. Gentleness is related to kindness or good will. Then, a person who acts gently means a person who is able

to show mild movement like a child’s character that is gently. The gentleness of the people hopefully makes them create peaceful situation. Those characters belong to the child. If the characters are followed by the people, there will be peace in the society. The simile presents poet’s expectation that the child is able to bring peace to the society.

In this stanza, the poet is talking to the reader at the first line of the stanza. The poet shows his talking through iambic meter. Then anapestic appear in the last line of the stanza. It slows the rhyme of the stanza. This stanza flows as a tired condition after arguing or fight for something.

Go and stand amidst their scowling hearts, my child, and let your gentle eyes fall upon them like the forgiving peace of the

evening over the strife of the day.

The fifth stanza of The Child Angel depicts the poet’s persuasion towards the child as also appears in the second stanza. It shows the poet’s persuasion to the child so that he/she could show up to the society and tell them that there is love above all. The poet wants the child to show up because they have what the society

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do not. It is love. It is also poet’s expectation for the people that they can follow

the love that the child taught. The use of “let” soften the persuasion. “Let,” means

a direct attention to other people. It also means a polite instruction to others. In addition, the poet draws his persuasion for the society. The poet wants them to love one another. Thus, the stanza presents poet’s expectation to the child and the society.

This stanza combines anapestic and iambic meter. The combination of anapestic and iambic presents a harmony which flows calm but full of love. The

image is strengthened through the use of child’s character which is loveable. It is

stated in the last line of the stanza. That is why the imperative looks mild. It does not persuade the people harshly, but just slowly.

Let them see your face, my child, and thus know the meaning of all things; let them love you and thus love each other.

Just before coming to the last stanza, the poet presents an additional line. This line is located between the last stanza and the fifth stanza. It functions to implicitly draw another character other than the child and the society. It is a

character of an adult who becomes the child’s protector. The poet uses the word

“bosom”. It means women breast. This symbol means the mother in child’s world.

“The bosom of the limitless” means an unlimited love of mother towards the child. This also means that the child would be ready to face the world when the adults or mother taught them. The word “bosom” can also be interpreted as protection or care. This independent line brings a message to the reader that the

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child needs love, care and protection from adults. So, creating a peaceful situation

as the poet’s expectation is necessary.

This line contains trochaic and anapestic meter. The combination makes the

reader feels that they are invited to the mother’s hug. The combination of the

meter creates an effect of affection.

Come and take your seat in the bosom of the limitless, my child.

To end the poem, the poet uses simile to compare things with the nature. The poet presents flower, sunrise and sunset as the comparison with heart and head. Sunrise is often symbolized as a new hope or the beginning of a working day. When the sunrise comes, hopefully the child’s heart could grow mature or have been ready to face the world. Sunset often symbolizes the end of days. For Moslems, sunset means the time to pray. It is also the time for people to come home and meet their family. The last sentence of the stanza “complete the worship

of the day” means that the poet regards life as a prayer. Everything he did is

presented to God. So, it must be the best thing that we do since it is for God. The religious aspect of the poem is presented smoothly in the last paragraph.

At sunrise open and raise your heart like a blossoming flower, and at sunset bend your head and in silence complete the worship of the day.

In conclusion, the poet presents the condition of a chaotic situation around the child. There are three characters presented in the poem. They are the child, the society and the mother. This poem regards the child as an agent of change for the

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society. However, in order to realize it, the society or adults have to teach them in a peaceful condition. A peaceful condition is a situation which is conducive to learn. As in many poems of Tagore, this poem also presents religious aspects of the poet.

2. The Explication of When and Why

The poem, as any other poem in The Crescent Moon, tells a relation between the poet and the children. In this poem, the poet presents an interaction between children and adults through some interactions. The interactions are presented in each stanza. There are four interactions presented in the poem. The first, the poet gives colored toys to the children. The second, the poet sings for the children so that he/she can dance. The third, the poet gives a present to the children. The presents are sweet things. The last, the poet kisses the children. Through the interactions, the poet shows that he can learn from the children. The poem uses simple diction and has repetition phrase in every beginning of the stanza and in the end of each stanza. In addition, each of the stanzas does not have a strict rhyme.

The title of the poem consists of two relative verbs. They are “when” and

“why”. The word “when” refers to situation or time. The poet gives the view

about the situation around him. There are many things around the poet when he made the poem and he presents it through imagery. The poet depicts the colorful world, the harmony of music and dance, the sweet thing around him, and the

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refers to a certain reason. The poet states his reason how he can understand the nature and things around him, especially the children. Therefore, it is obvious that the poet wants to present some interactions that he did with the children and the knowledge he has learned from the children.

When and Why presents both characters, the poet and the children, literally.

The poet uses the word “I” to show himself. The poet is the representation of adult. The word “child” shows the child, an early stage of human beings who

loves playing and needs love, care and guidance. This poem also presents the character of the child. It is shown in the third and fourth stanzas. The poet compares his feelings to the children, and his feelings to the nature. He shows the nature to show what he feels about the children. Additionally, everything that he got from the children is compared to nature. Therefore, the nature becomes the

reflections of the poet’s feelings to the children.

In the first stanza, the poet draws the child’s world using interaction between him and the child. The interaction is stated literally. The poet gives

colored toys to the child. The phrase “colored toys” means toys which have many colors. It is something that children love. The poet draws the character of child as a person who is glad to have a toy. Toy always associates with child. In this poem,

the poet uses toy to represent the child’s world. Then, the poet uses the expression “colored toys” as the symbol that the child’s world is so colorful.

The colorful world of the child is represented through the imagery of the symbols of nature. The effect of imagery creates a situation which is real for the readers. In this poem, the poet states that there are colors on the clouds, water and

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flowers are so beautiful that the reader can see it through this sense of sight. Then, flower is used as the symbol of colorful world. The other representations, water and clouds represents calmness. Its blue color often symbolizes calmness.

The comparison of the toys and the symbols of nature show a cheerful and colorful world of the child. Giving toys to the child, the poet realize the child world which is so colorful. The colored toys represent the color of the child’s world. Thus, the stanza gives a clear sight of the things around the poet represents the situation of what the poet got from the child.

WHEN I bring you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints

As in other stanzas of the poem, the second stanza presents imagery to enliven the poem. In the second stanza, the poet combines the senses of sight and hearing. Dance is the representation of the sense of sight. The poet makes the readers feel that they can see the child’s dance. The sense of hearing through the

poet’s song strengthens the sense of sight of the dance. The reader feels that the

dance is real as the song for the dance appeared. As a harmony, the dance and the music complete one another.

The representation of dance and song symbolizes deeper meaning. Hornby (292), states that dance is “a series of steps and movements that match the speed

and rhythm of a piece of music”. Every step of the dance is guided by the music.

Music also functions as the step counting of the dance. It makes the dancer easier to move their step. Like traveling a road, the song is like a lantern that gives light

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to show the way. The combination represents the poet’s feeling that he will

always guide the child so that they can live their life perfectly.

There are some personifications in the second stanza. The poet treats waves and earth as human beings. The poet mentioned that the waves could sing through their chorus. Then, the poet tells that earth could listen. The personifications in the

second stanza actually represent what the poet’s learns from the child. The poet

learns about nature from the child. There will always harmony in life such as in leaves, waves and the earth.

When I sing to make you dance, I truly know why there is music in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth--when I sing to make you dance.

Any stage of human beings has different characteristics, so does the child. A child is at the stage that is full of curiosity and greed. They have big appetite of food, especially food that they like most. In this poem, the character of the child is presented literally on the last line of the third stanza. The poet uses the adjective

phrase “greedy hand” which means an excessive desire of food. Then, to stick out the character, the poet uses the symbol of food. The poet uses sweet thing as representation of candies, since many children like it very much.

The poet realizes that there are many sweet things in the world. However, he uses flower and fruits to symbolize all of them. They are two sweet things which are provided by the nature. Flowers have its honey while fruit have its sweet juice. The word flowers can also have different interpretation. It can be sweet things or

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Appendix 5 MATERIALS

Pre-reading questions

1. Have you ever read a poem? 2. What kind of poem did you read?

3. Can you mention some intrinsic elements of the poem?

During-reading

THE CHILD-ANGEL

THEY clamour and fight, they doubt and despair, they know no end to their wranglings.

Let your life come amongst them like a flame of light, my child, unflickering and pure, and delight them into silence.

They are cruel in their greed and their envy; their words are like hidden knives thirsting for blood.

Go and stand amidst their scowling hearts, my child, and let your gentle eyes fall upon them like the forgiving peace of the evening over the strife of the day.

Let them see your face, my child, and thus know the meaning of all things; let them love you and thus love each other.

Come and take your seat in the bosom of the limitless, my child. At sunrise open and raise your heart like a blossoming flower, and at sunset bend your head and in silence complete the worship of the day.

Leading questions

f. Who are the characters in the poem?

g. How the poet describes the situation around the main character in the poem? h. How does the poet characterize the main character in the poem?

i. Write the poet’s expectation for the main character! j. What is the meaning of the poem?

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After reading

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Appendix 6

Tagore’s selected works

1. Kabikahini, 1878 - a poet's tale

2. Sadhya Sangeet, 1882 - evening songs 3. Prabhat Sangeet, 1883 - morning songs 4. Bau-thakuranir hat, 1883

5. Rajashi, 1887

6. Raja o rani, 1889 - the king and the queen / devouring love 7. Visargan, 1890 - sacrifice

8. Manasi, 1890

9. Iurope-jatrir diari, 1891, 1893 10. Valmiki Pratibha, 1893

11. Sonar Tari, 1894 - the golden boat 12. Khanika, 1900 - moments

13. Katha, 1900 14. Kalpana, 1900 15. Naivedya, 1901

16. Nashtanir, 1901 - the broken nest 17. Sharan, 1902

18. Binodini, 1902

19. Chocher Bali, 1903 - eyesore 20. Naukadubi, 1905 - haaksirikko 21. Kheya, 1906

22. Naukadubi, 1906 - the wreck 23. Gora, 1907-09 - suom.

24. Saradotsava, 1908 - autumn festival 25. Galpaguccha, 1912 - a bunch of stories 26. Chinnapatra, 1912

27. Viday-abhisap, 1912 - the curse at farewell

28. Gitanjali, 1912 - song offerings (new translation in 2000 by joen winter, publ. Anvil press) - uhrilauluja

29. Jiban Smrti, 1912 - my reminiscenes - elämäni muistoja, trans. By j. Hollo 30. Dakghar, 1912 - post office

31. The Crescent Moon, 1913 32. Glimpses of Bengal Life, 1913

33. The Hungry Stones and Other Stories, 1913 34. Chitra, 1914 - transl.

35. Ghitimalaya, 1914

36. The King of The Dark Chamber, 1914 37. The Post Office, 1914

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38. Sadhana, 1914

39. Ghare-baire, 1916 - the home and the world - koti ja maailma 40. Balak, 1916 - a flight of swans

41. Chaturanga, 1916 - transl. 42. Fruit Gathering, 1916 43. The Hungry Stones, 1916 44. Stray Birds, 1916

45. Personality, 1917 - persoonallisuus 46. The Cycle of Spring, 1917

47. Sacrifice, and other plays, 1917 48. My Reminiscene, 1917

49. Nationalism, 1917

50. Mashi and other stories, 1918 51. Stories from tagore, 1918 52. Palataka, 1918

53. Japan-jatri, 1919 - a visit to japan 54. Greater India, 1921

55. The Fugitive, 1921 56. Creative Unity, 1921 57. Lipika, 1922

58. Muktadhara, 1922 - trans. 59. Poems, 1923

60. Gora, 1924

61. Letters from Abroad, 1924 62. Red Oleander, 1924

63. Grihaprabesh, 1925

64. Broken Ties and Other Stories, 1925

65. Rabindranath Tagore: twenty-two poems, 1925 66. Rakta-karabi, 1925 - red oleanders

67. Sadhana, 1926 - suom. 68. Natir Puja, 1926 - transl. 69. Letters to a friend, 1928

70. Sesher Kavita, 1929 - farewell, my friend 71. Mahua, 1929 - the herald of spring 72. Jatri, 1929

73. Yagayog, 1929

74. The Religion of Man, 1930 75. The Child, 1931

76. Rashiar chithi, 1931 - letters from russia 77. Patraput, 1932

78. Punascha, 1932

79. Mahatmahi and the depressed humanity, 1932 80. The golden boat, 1932

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81. Sheaves, poems and songs, 1932 82. Dui bon, 1933 - two sisters 83. Chandalika, 1933 - transl. 84. Malancha, 1934 - the garden 85. Char adhyaya, 1934 - four chapters 86. Bithika, 1935

87. Shesh saptak, 1935 88. Patraput, 1936

89. Syamali, 1936 - trans.

90. Collected poems and plays, 1936 91. Khapchara, 1937

92. Semjuti, 1938 93. Prantik, 1938 94. Prahasini, 1939 95. Pather sancay, 1939 96. Akaspradip, 1939 97. Syama, 1939 98. Nabajatak, 1940 99. Shanai, 1940

100.Chelebela, 1940 - my boyhood days 101.Rogshajyay, 1940

102.Arogya, 1941 103.Janmadine, 1941 104.Galpasalpa, 1941 105.Last poems, 1941

106.The parrots training, 1944 107.Rolland and tagore, 1945 108.Three plays, 1950

109.Crisis in civilization, 1950 110.Sheaves, 1951

111.More stories from tagore, 1951 112.A tagore's testament, 1955 113.Our universe, 1958

114.The runaway and other stories, 1959 115.Wings of death, 1960

116.Gitabitan, 1960

117.A tagore reader, 1961 (ed. By amiya chakravarty) 118.Towards universal man, 1961

119.On art and aesthetics, 1961 120.Bicitra, 1961

121.Galpaguccha, 1960-62 (4 vols.) 122.Boundless sky, 1964

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124.Rabindra-racanabali, 1964-1966 (27 vols.) 125.Patraput, 1969

126.Imperfect encounter, 1972 127.Later poems, 1974

128.The housewarming, 1977

129.Rabindranath tagore: selected poems, 1985

Rabindranath Tagoreâs view of education in his poems The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S VIEW

OF EDUCATION

IN HIS POEMS THE CHILD ANGEL, WHEN AND WHY,

AND BENEDICTION

I will run having legs

But, I will not stop for having the goal

I will fight for having hands

But, I will not lose for having the spirit

I will shout for having mouth

But, I will not shut it up for having the truth

Then, I will live for having love for everyone

(Kiyer D’great)

When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long.

Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then

look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past

cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

GOD WILL NEVER GET YOU SO FAR

JUST TO SEE YOU DOWN

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Links

Rabindranath Tagoreâs view of education in his poems The Child Angel, When and Why, and Benediction.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S VIEW

OF EDUCATION

IN HIS POEMS THE CHILD ANGEL, WHEN AND WHY,

AND BENEDICTION

I will run having legs

But, I will not stop for having the goal

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But, I will not lose for having the spirit

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But, I will not shut it up for having the truth

Then, I will live for having love for everyone

(Kiyer D’great)

When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long.

Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then

look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past

cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.

GOD WILL NEVER GET YOU SO FAR

JUST TO SEE YOU DOWN

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