Mapping the Nation

Sheshalatha Reddy

Description

Offers a broad selection of poetry written by Indians in English during the period 1870–1920.

Focusing specifically on the poetic construction of India, ‘Mapping the Nation’ offers a broad selection of poetry written by Indians in English during the period 1870–1920. Centering upon the “mapping” of India – both as a regional location and as a poetic ideal – this unique anthology presents poetry from various geographical nodal points of the subcontinent, as well as that written in the imperial metropole of England.

The anthology’s selection defines India in various ways: as being against Britain in loyalty and/or critique; in “exile” in or through memories of England; through a reconstructed past; through satirical or earnest depictions of her contemporary politics; through depictions of the subcontinent’s landscape and scenery; through her various regions and their inhabitants, customs, cultures and religions; or through odes to British and Indian literary figures and politicians. This rich bounty of content is complemented by an equally detailed array of auxiliary notes, including annotations and appendices of poets’ prefaces, assessments of other contemporaries, and a collection of formerly lost archive material.

As becomes evident, the diversity of India’s imagining by her poets during this period corresponds to the diversity of her inhabitants and geography. In grouping its poetry according to region of publication, this anthology makes a structural innovation that negotiates the politics of locality, nation and empire by acknowledging the importance of all three terms in constructing an Indian national and cultural identity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Acknowledgments; Note on Transcription and Transliteration; Note on Abbreviations; Critical Introduction; EAST: Shoshee Chunder Dutt; Greece Chunder Dutt; Joteendro Mohan Tagore; Avadh Behari Lall; Romesh Chunder Dutt; Lala Prasanna Kumar Dey; A. S. H. Hussain; Charu Chandra Bose; Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani; Ram Sharma; WEST: Behramji Merwanji Malabari; Cowasji Nowrosji Vesuvala; Aurobindo Ghose; S. D. Saklatvala; C. R. Doraswami Naidu; Jamasp Phiroze Dastur; Rustam B. Paymaster; NORTH: Babu S. C. Dutt [Shoshee Chunder Dutt]; Bipin Bihari Bose; Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi; Tej Shankar Kochak [a “Georgian Brahmin”]; Sushila Harkishen Lal; SOUTH: R. Sivasankara Pandiya; Krupabai Satthianadhan; M. V. Venkatasubba Aiyar; M. Dinakara; Chilkur C. S. Narsimha Row; C. Lakshminarayana Aiyer; P. Seshadri; Ardeshir Framji Khabardar; Rabindranath Tagore; Harindranath Chattopadhyay; Aurobindo Ghose; Nizamat Jung; ABROAD: Govin Chunder Dutt, et. al.; Toru Dutt; Hamid Ali Khan; Dejen L. Roy; Greece Chunder Dutt; T. (Pillai) Ramakrishna; Manmohan Ghose; Romesh Chunder Dutt; Hary Sing Gour; Sarojini Naidu; Roby Datta; Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy; Rabindranath Tagore; Peshoton Sarobji Goolbai Dubash; Sri Ananda Acharya; APPENDICES: Indian Poets on their Poetry; British Poets/Critics on Indian Poets; Excerpts from ‘A Garland of Ceylon Verse, 1837–1897’ (Colombo: 1897), edited and with an introduction and notes by Isaac Tambyah; Bibliography; Index of Titles; Index of Authors

Sujets

• General officer
• Poetry
• Asian
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Anthem Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783080755
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Mapping the Nation Mapping the Nation
An Anthology of Indian Poetry in English,
1870–1920
Edited and with a Critical Introduction by
Sheshalatha ReddyAnthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2013
by ANTHEM PRESS
75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK
or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK
and
244 Madison Ave. #116, New York, NY 10016, USA
First published in hardback by Anthem Press in 2012
Introduction, editorial matter and selection © Sheshalatha Reddy 2013
The moral right of the authors has been asserted.
Cover image: “Bhārat patākā series – wealth segregatively concentrating | poverty
entropically increasing,” oil on canvas, 10 × 18 inches
© 2001 Kakoli Mitra; all rights reserved
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Mapping the nation : an anthology of Indian poetry in English,
1870–1920 / edited and with a critical introduction by Sheshalatha
Reddy. – 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-85728-441-9 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Indic poetry (English)–19th century. 2. Indic poetry
(English)–20th century. I. Reddy, Sheshalatha.
PR9495.6.M37 2012
821’.8–dc23
2012009595
ISBN-13: 978 1 78308 044 1 (Pbk)
ISBN-10: 1 78308 044 2 (Pbk)
This title is also available as an ebook.Contents
Acknowledgments xv
Note on Transcription and Transliteration xviiAbbreviations xvii
Critical Introduction xix
EAST
1. Shoshee Chunder Dutt 1
A Vision of Sumeru, and Other Poems (Calcutta: 1878) 2
− Address to the Ganges 2
− My Native Land 6
− Sonnets—India 9
2. Greece Chunder Dutt 10
Cherry Stones (Calcutta: 1879) 10
− XXVII. Sonnet (The Nepali Peasant) 10
− XXX. Sonnet (Near Goa) 11
− XLVII. Sonnet (1858) 12
− LIV. Sonnet (Sacoontala) 12
3. Joteendro Mohun Tagore 13
Flights of Fancy in Prose and Verse (Calcutta: 1881) 13
− The Rajpootnee’s Song 13
− Sonnet to the Kokil 14
− Song 15
− The Dewallee, or The Feast of Light 16
− Moonlight on the River 17
− Sonnet to India 17
− The Hindu Widow’s Lament 18
4. Avadh Behari Lall 19
The Irish Home Rule Bill, a poetical pamphlet (Calcutta: 1893) 19
− The Ir19
Behar, and other poems (Calcutta: 1898) 24
− An Epistle to the Right Hon’ble Alfred Lord Tennyson,
Poet-Laureate, England 24
5. Romesh Chunder Dutt 26
Reminiscences of a Workman’s Life (Calcutta: 1896) 27
− The Exile 27
− Home 28
− Lines on India 29
− Lines on Ireland 30
− Autumn-Night in a Bengal Rice-Field 32vi Mapping the Nation
6. Lala Prasanna Kumar Dey 39
Indian Bouquet (Calcutta: 1906) 39
− War 39
− Svami Vivekananda at Chicago 40
7. A. S. H. Hussain 41
Loyal Leaves (Calcutta: 1911) 42
− Ode for her Imperial Majesty Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee 42
The Voice of Islam and other poems (Calcutta: 1914) 47
− The Voice of Islam 47
8. Charu Chandra Bose 60
A Voice from Bengal: Welcome Address to Their Majesties
Landed in India (Calcutta: 1912) 61
− Welcome Address to Their Majesties landed in India 61
9. Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani 62
The Triumph of Delhi and Other Poems (Calcutta: 1916) 62
− The Triumph of Delhi 62
10. Ram Sharma 74
The Poetical Works of Ram Sharma (Calcutta: 1919) 75
− Song of the Indian Conservative 75
− An Old Indian Melody 76
− The Song of the Tirhoot Planters 77
− The Anglo-Indian War-Cry, or Bluster in Excelsis 78
− India’s Vindication of Lord Ripon and her Farewell 80
− Ode on the Meeting of the Cong ress at Allahabad
on the 26th December 1888 85
− India to Britain 89
− To Indian Patriots 89
− Bande Mataram 90
WEST
1. Behramji Merwanji Malabari 93
The Indian Muse in English Garb (Bombay: 1876) 94
− “The dream of my youth” H. R. H. the Prince of Wales 94
− The Stages of a Hindu Female Life 95
− To the Missionaries of Faith 98
− Time of Famine 100
− The British Character 101
− A Protest 102
2. Cowasji Nowrosji Vesuvala 104
Courting the Muse: being a Collection of Poems (Bombay: 1879) 105
− True Indian Opinion, or Native Croakers 105
− Sonnet: Bombay Harbour 130Contents vii
3. Aurobindo Ghose 130
Songs to Myrtilla and other poems (Baroda: 1895) 131
− O Coil, Coil 131
− Charles Stewart Parnell 132
− Lines on Ireland 132
− Saraswati with the Lotus 136
4. S. D. Saklatvala 136
An Appeal for Peace, some verses (Bombay: 1910) 137
− [Excerpts]
5. C. R. Doraswami Naidu 141
Heart Buds, poems (Ahmedabad: 1914) 142
− Foreword 142
− To the Motherland 144
− The Taj Mahal – Agra 148
− To K.V. M., A Vision – Young India 148
6. Jamasp Phiroze Dastur 150
The Temple of Justice [a poem in praise of justice] (Bombay: 1916) 150
− The Temple of Justice 150
7. Rustam B. Paymaster 153
Navroziana, or The Dawn of a New Era: Being Poems on
Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji and Other Friends of India, with
“The Voice of the East on the Great War” (Bombay: 1917) 153
− Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, An Ode of Welcome 153
− Mr.oji, On His 79th Birthday 155
− Dadabhai Naoroji 158
− The Late Hon. Mr. G. K. Gokhale, C. I. E. 159
− Lord Hardinge 160
− The Secret of a Successful Rule 165
− The Parsi New Year’s Day 166
NORTH
1. Babu S. C. Dutt [Shoshee Chunder Dutt] 167
Last Moments of Pratapa (Lahore: 1893) 168
− Last Moments of Pratapa 168
2. Bipin Bihari Bose 172
Congress Songs and Ballads (Lucknow: 1899) 173
− “Mother and Mother-Country are more
estimable than Heaven itself” 173
− The Congress-man’s Confession 175viii Mapping the Nation
3. Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi 180
Poems (Lahore: 1907) 181
− To a Chinar-Tree 181
− The Sirinagar Flood and the Dal Lake 182
− On Entering the Kashmere Valley 185
− On the Occasion of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee 185
− To Delhi 186
− The Rise and Fall of Islam 187
− To India! 191
− “To my mother” 191
4. Tej Shankar Kochak [a “Georgian Brahmin”] 192
Oriental Welcome to Their Most Gracious Majesties the
King-Emperor and the Queen-Empress (Cawnpore: 1911) 193
− [Excerpts]
5. Sushila Harkishen Lal 196
Stray Thoughts (Lahore: 1918) 196
− Dreams 196
SOUTH
1. R. Sivasankara Pandiya 199
The Empress of India and Other Poems (Madras: 1888) 200
− Empress of India and Indian Poets 200
− The University of Madras 202
2. Krupabai Satthianadhan 203
Miscellaneous Writings of Krupabai Satthianadhan (Madras: 1896) 203
− Recollections of Childhood 203
− Social Intercourse between Europeans and Natives 205
3. M. V . V enkatasubba Aiyar 206
Ventures in Verse (Madras: 1899) 206
− To the Land of My Birth 206
− Sonnets, I. Faith 207
− Ravana’s Doom 207

4. M. Dinakara 212
A Ballad of the Boer War…in Celebration of the Prowess
of the British Army (Ramnad: 1902) 213
− The Gathering 213
− How Great Britain was Regenerated and Became ‘Greater Britain’ 214
− A Tribute to the Gallant Boers, Who Fought, and Fell,
for their Country 217Contents ix
5. Chilkur C. S. Narsimha Row 217
The Poetical Works of Chilkur C. S. Nar Simha Row (Ellore: 1911) 218
− The Greatest Need of India 218
− Madras or Rome, where’s thy home? 220
− Vande Mataram 221
− The grand old man of India 222
− India 225
6. C. Lakshminarayana Aiyer 233
Poems (Tinnevelly: 1914) 233
− To the Lord Bhupalaswami, Srivaikuntam 233
− To His Gracious Majesty George V Emperor of India 233
− Coronation Song 234
− The New Year, 1912 234
7. P. Seshadri 236
Bilhana: An Indian Romance, Adapted from Sanskrit (Madras: 1914) 237
− Bilhana 237
Sonnets (Madras: 1914) 255
− Toru Dutt 255
− The Marquis of Ripon 255
− Victoria 256
− Romesh Chunder Dutt 256
Champak Leaves (Madras: 1919, originally published 1915) 257
− The Sacrifi ce 257
− Jahangir and the Little Children 257
− Widowed 258
− Queen Tissarakshita’s Jealousy 258
− Lali and Majnun 259
− Indumathi’s Death 260
− A Sister’s Wail 260
− The Exile 261
− The Rani of Ganore 262
− Anakarli 262
8. Ardeshir Framji Khabardar 263
The Silken Tassel (Madras: 1918) 264
− An Indian Funeral Song 264
− To India 264
− The Patriot 265
9. Rabindranath Tagore 266
The Gift of the Poet Laureate of India to National Education Week,
1918 (Adyar: 1918) 266x Mapping the Nation
10. Harindranath Chattopadhyay 267
The Feast of Youth (Madras: 1918) 268
− The Hour of Rest 268
− Sufi Worship 269
The Coloured Garden (Madras: 1919) 269
− The Coloured Country 269
− Pride 270
− A Sad Thing 271
11. Aurobind