Fireflies gathers Rabindranath Tagore’s miniature poems, aphorisms and luminous one-line reflections.
There are brief thoughts on love, beauty, life, nature and God, each small enough to feel held in the hand. The form was inspired by the proverbs, maxims and silk-written fragments Tagore encountered through Chinese and Japanese literary traditions, especially during his travels in Japan, where he collected such sayings in his notebooks. Here, each “firefly” glows briefly and separately: a sentence, a spark, a little philosophical insect in the dark.
This edition makes the book feel especially like an object rather than simply a text. Each page pairs one of Tagore’s short maxims with a decorative design by Boris Artzybasheff, turning the collection into something part poetry book, part illustrated devotional, part cabinet of literary miniatures. Also included is Tagore’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, giving the volume a broader sense of his literary and spiritual imagination. A lovely small artefact for readers interested in Tagore, aphoristic writing, Eastern literary forms, illustrated books, poetic mysticism, and books that can be opened almost anywhere.
Macmillan Publishing Company edition, New York; copyright originally 1928, renewed 1955 by Rabindranath Tagore. Reprint of the edition published by Macmillan, New York. Printed in the United States. Paperback / softcover. Good second-hand condition from photos, with light cover handling and minor edge/corner wear.
