Rabindranath Tagore has received a Nobel prize for literature in 1913.
Poetry has always been considered to be one of the most romantic forms of expression. The most beautiful part about this form is that neither is there an age bar nor a word limit or rigid standards. It's free flowing, just like water. Although it is true that anyone can write poetry, the celebration of the form is incomplete without the mention of a few personalities who have touched the hearts of millions through their works and continue to do so even today. Here is a list of some of the poets whose contribution in the world of poetry remains unparalleled.
Rumi
A favourite among all poetry lovers, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, popularly known as just Rumi was a 13th century Sufi poet whose work speaks beyond boundaries. Rumi's poems are mostly written in Persian and majorly talk about unconditional love for what Rumi termed as "the self". According to his poems, this love would eventually lead to an eternal union with the divine. The spiritual nature of his poems has had a transcendental effect on many of those who have read them.
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the 20th century. She is also one of the most controversial poets of the post-war era due to her fearless and raw expression of human emotions. Her poems reflect the mental anguish Plath was going through which eventually took her life at a very young age. It is amazing how Plath had acquired a huge literary following just by the age of 30 - the age she died at. One of the path breaking poets of her time, Plath continues to be alive in the hearts of many.
Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore is a name that is not known by many outside India which is a shame as his elegant prose and magical poetry should not be missed by anyone with a love for poetry. His profound love for nature and the rural land comes out beautifully in his works, a lot of which is compiled together in his book Gitanjali - a collection of 103 poems by Rabindranath. Tagore has even received a Nobel prize for literature, largely for this book.
Pablo Neruda
Ricardo Eliécer Neftali Reyes Basoalto, better known by his pen name Pablo Neruda was a Chiliean poet and politician. As unusual as the combination might seem, Neruda started writing poetry from the age of ten. Though he wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poetry, a genre not explored by many, his most famous work are on passionate and all-consuming love. Neruda, also a winner of the Nobel prize for literature, is considered to be the national poet of Chile.
There are many other great personalities who have made us see the world in a different light through their pieces of poetry and deserve to be celebrated on this day.
And as any poetry day is incomplete without two lines for the soul, here's a little verse by Rumi:
Why should I seek? I am the same as
He. His essence speaks through me.
I have been looking for myself!