Summary of Rabindranath Tagore's The Paper Boat

Introduction

Rabindranath Tagore is an Indian poet.  He has won Nobel Prize for literature for his English translation Gitanjali from Bengali.  He has written the Indian national anthem.  He has also written the national anthem of Bangladesh.  The Paper Boat is a short poem.  It talks about Tagore’s childhood days.  It shows a child’s perception of nature and world.

Reminiscences of Childhood

            Tagore writes this poem in the month of July.  July is a month of rain and shower.    Tagore recollects a particular day of July during his childhood.   He flashes back to that particular day.  Tagore, as a lad, plays alone.  He floats a paper boat in a small stream, which might have been a cause of rain.  Tagore is alone, yet he is happy with his paper boat.

            All on sudden thick clouds gather in the sky, the wind gushes heavily and there is heavy down pour of rain.  The still water is disturbed by the rain.  Mud mixes with the water and there are rills in the muddy water.  These disturb the smooth run of the Tagore’s paper boat and his mind set.

            The rain upsets Tagore’s boat and his peace of mind.  Tagore, as a lad, concludes that the rain had come on purpose.  Its motive was to spoil his happiness.  Tagore considers that the rain was angry with him.

            After thinking of his childish past, Tagore settles with his present.  He, at present, is blaming his fate for playing many tricks with him.  He regrets for scolding the rain when he was young.  At the same time, he is also laughing at his innocence about rain and nature, when he was young.

Conclusion

            Tagore’s The Paper Boat is a small prose poem.  Almost all his poems are prosaic.  This poem is small in its size and thought.  Tagore explores his mind as a child and relishes his own innocence after becoming an adult.  The poem depicts the worlds of innocence and knowledge.