WAR: "WE ONLY HOPE THAT . . . GOD IS LEADING US THROUGH DEATH TO THE IMMORTAL" TAGORE, RABINDRANATH. Autograph Letter Signed, to writer Ernest Rhys, consenting to the use of his own photograph and autograph, planning a trip to Japan, anticipating visiting him, and remarking on the staggeringly terrible war. 1 page, 4to, thin ruled paper; faint scattered foxing, folds. - Bolpur, 29 December 1914

"You are quite at liberty to use my photograph and autographs in your book and never trouble yourself about the copyright. I completely disappeared from the pursuit of Post peons for over a month and your letter has been waiting for me I do not know for how long. I am planning again for another flight across the sea landing at Japan and then arranging for a further journey if I am in mood. The next summer will be spent in the land of the Cherry blossoms and don't be surprised if some sunny day in the following summer finds me knocking at your door.

"This war is terrible. Its relentless fury staggers imagination. We only hope that it is the birth pang of a new life in man's history and that God is leading us through death to the immortal."

Around 1913, after having seen one of Tagore's plays performed in the Little Theatre at Albert Hall, Ernest Rhys became friends with Tagore, regularly having him as a guest in his London home. Rhys assisted Tagore in some of his literary works and wrote a biography about him, published by Macmillan in 1915: Rabindranath Tagore: A Biographical Study.