Indian poets who wrote in English—a small middle class minority—were divided from the regional language poets by more than language for long. The English poets had a selected readership, were known unto themselves, in academic circles if they were widely published, but were looked down upon with a kind of derision by regional writers.
However, the scenario has changed now. From English being spurned as a colonizer’s tongue that was nobody’s language, it has now become everybody’s language with English medium schools, English movies, ads, soaps and serials. For a generation living in a global village, genuine readership and appreciation of English poetry is no longer an encumbrance. This book, in its second edition, continues to educate the students with diverse and thought-provoking essays that vary from personal to argumentative to objectively discursive English literature and to those who are genuinely interested in Indian English poetry.
The Fourteen poets selected in this anthology are Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Toru Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, Sarojini Naidu, Jibanananda Das, Nissim Ezekiel, Jayanta Mahapatra, A.K. Ramanujan, Arun Kolatkar, Rajagopal Parthasarathy, Kamala Das, and Dilip Chitre. The poets included are all on the syllabi of major universities in India.
NEW TO THIS EDITION • The new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated as per the requirement of Indian university’s undergraduate and postgraduate English syllabus.
• Inclusion of a new poet Eunice D’Souza. About the Author
ZINIA MITRA, PhD, is Head, Department of English, Nakshalbari College, Darjeeling. She has published / presented many papers in reputed journals and conferences.
Table of Contents:
Foreword • Preface Contributors Introduction I: MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT (1824–1873) II: TORU LATA DUTT (1856–1877) III: RABINDRANATH TAGORE (1861–1941) IV: AUROBINDO GHOSE (1872–1950) V: SAROJINI NAIDU (1879–1949) VI: JIBANANANDA DAS (1899–1954) VII: NISSIM EZEKIEL (1924–2004) VIII: JAYANTA MAHAPATRA (born 1928) IX: ATTIPATI KRISHNASWAMI RAMANUJAN (1929–1993) X: ARUN KOLATKAR (1932–2004) XI: KAMALA DAS (1934–2009) XII: RAJAGOPAL PARTHASARATHY (born 1934) XIII: PURUSHOTTAM CHITRE (1938–2009) XIV: EUNICE D’SOUZA (born 1940) Index
