Page:Rabindranath Tagore - A Biographical Study.djvu/27

 A few months later, when the poet returned to England, we were able to realise for ourselves something of the spirit in him that affected his followers of the new generation in India, and his readers both there and here.

One of them allows me to quote some of her impressions written at the time: "His is an aspect that fixes itself deeply in that uncertain medium, the retina of the memory. It is easy to call up at any moment a mental picture of that tall and graceful form in the long loose coat of grey-brown; the white sensitive hands, large serenely-lit eyes, noble features, and curling hair and beard, dark and lightly touched with grey. Above all, the stately simplicity of his bearing struck me, for it implied a spiritual quality that diffused itself about his presence. The same thing helped to make him the kindest of hosts and gentlest of guests. Add to these qualities a certain incalculable gaiety; and you will still fail to understand his immense personal influence among his own people." The same writer adds: "You know that when at Calcutta he is announced to speak in a hall or public building, it is surrounded by crowds for whom there is no place within and who listen outside for the sound of his voice. It would