My Reminiscences · Chapter
XXVII: The Broken Heart explained
Tagore reflects on his poem 'Bhagna Hriday' (The Broken Heart), written at age eighteen, and analyzes the tumultuous period of his youth from fifteen to twenty-three.
What happens
Tagore reflects on his poem 'Bhagna Hriday' (The Broken Heart), written at age eighteen, and analyzes the tumultuous period of his youth from fifteen to twenty-three. He describes the disordered, passionate nature of his immature mind, influenced by English literature—especially Shakespeare, Milton, and Byron—and the emotional intoxication brought by Akshay Chowdhury. He contrasts the restrained social life of Bengal with the tempestuous passions of European literature, and critiques the tendency toward exaggeration and lack of true artistic restraint. He also discusses the two classes of educated men at the time: aggressive atheists and religious epicureans, and admits his own youthful rebellion and emotional excess.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
In this chapter, the emotional and psychological peak occurs when the narrator’s long-held romantic longing fo…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Literary Development and Self-Expression
Tagore examines his early poetic work and the influence of English literature on his creative development.
- Isolation and Longing for Connection
The narrator describes the craving for passionate emotion in a restricted social environment.
- Cultural Clash and Colonial Influence
The chapter contrasts the restrained Bengali social life with the passionate, unrestrained English literature that captivated the youth.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
Reflects on his youth, his poem 'Bhagna Hriday', and his emotional and intellectual development.
- Akshay Chowdhury
Described as the initiator into English literature, whose passionate declamation of poetry intoxicated the narrator and his peers.
Key passages
“When I began to write the Bhagna Hriday I was eighteen—neither in my childhood nor my youth. This borderland age is not illumined with the direct rays of Truth;—its reflection is seen here and there, and the rest is shadow.”
At eighteen, I was in a transitional phase between childhood and youth, where truth was only partially visible, and much was obscured by imagination.
Tagore describes the ambiguous, twilight state of his mind when writing 'The Broken Heart'.
“Our restricted social life, our narrower field of activity, was hedged in with such monotonous uniformity that tempestuous feelings found no entrance;—all was as calm and quiet as could be. So our hearts naturally craved the life-bringing shock of the passionate emotion in English literature.”
Because our social life was so confined and uniform, we yearned for the intense emotions found in English literature.
Tagore explains the appeal of passionate English literature to a restrained Bengali society.
“Atheism was thus for us a mere intoxication.”
For us, atheism was not a serious conviction but a kind of intellectual thrill.
Tagore criticizes the superficial adoption of Western atheistic ideas.
