Great minds think alike. This is very true in the case of Rabindranath Tagore and Tomas Transtromer, the two Nobel laureates in literature in 1913 and 2011, respectively. In their literary endeavor, one notices most distinct, impressive and appealing similarities. The present paper aims at bringing out the primary concerns of these two literary giants. With about 50 plays, almost 100 books of verse, 40 volumes of novels and shorter fiction, and books of essays and philosophy, Tagore has won acclaim for his variety and versatility. Similarly, Tomas Transtromer has already become famous for his prolific output because of his solid poetry collections, besides multitudes of essays on psychology, music and painting. Besides their prolific output, the present paper discusses factors like modernism, mysticism, imagery and lyricism that bring these two great minds together.

It is usually said that great minds think alike. This holds good in the case of Rabindranath Tagore and Tomas Transtromer, the two Nobel laureates in literature in 1913 and 2011, respectively. It is surprising to note in their works, most distinct, impressive and appealing similarities. Critics are easily drawn towards these two great minds in discussing parallels and analogies in their literary endeavor. In the 150th year of Tagore’s centenary, it is quite in the fitness of things to know the preoccupation of Tagore and also of Tomas Transtromer, the two great Nobel laureates. Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize especially for his book of poems, Gitanjali: Song Offering (1912) (Tagore, 1913), his free verse recreations of his Bengali poems modeled on medieval Indian devotional lyrics. Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet, also won the Nobel Prize primarily for his collection of poems.

English Studies Journal, Great minds, think alike, Rabindranath Tagore, Tomas Transtromer, the two Nobel laureates respectively, literary endeavor, one notices, most distinct, impressive, appealing, similarities.