The Poetry of British India, 1780–1905
Editor: Máire ní Fhlathúin
978 1 85196 985 2: 234x156mm: £195.00/$350.00
This two-volume reset edition draws together a selection of Anglo-Indian poetry from the Romantic era and the nineteenth century. The poets engage with India in different ways: some deal with the experience of migration, others respond to the Indian landscape, whilst the wider project of British rule in India also provides an important theme. The lament, the sonnet and the comic verse are all favoured forms.
This extensive body of literature is not well known, and can be accessed only in rare books and periodicals of the nineteenth century. This edition restores a group of marginalized voices to the poetical canon.
Extensive new editorial matter, including a substantial general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, endnotes, textual variants, chronologies and an index of titles and first lines will make this edition a vital resource for scholars researching Romantic and Nineteenth-Century Literature and Poetry.
- Offers a broad range of poetic works, including many which have not been published since their original publication
- Attributes works to previously unidentified authors
- Presents an overview of the tradition of British poetry as it developed in India during the Romantic and Victorian periods
- All texts are reset, with full scholarly apparatus and indices of first lines and titles
Sample pages
Contents
Volume 1
William Jones, A Hymn to Camdeo (1784); Elizabeth Ryves, The Hastiniad (1785); Ralph Broome, 'Letter I', 'Letter II', 'Letter III', from The Letters of Simkin the Second (1791); ‘Timothy Touchstone, Gent’, 'The Nabob', from Tea and Sugar, or the Nabob and the Creole (1792); Anna Maria Jones, 'Invocation to the Muse', 'Sonnet to the Moon', 'Ode inscribed to Della Crusca', 'Adieu to India', from The Poems of Anna Maria (1793); John Horsford, 'The Prospect', 'The Contrast', 'Ode to Benares', from A Collection of Poems Written in the East Indies (1797); John Horsford, 'The Art of Living in India', from Miscellaneous Poems Written in the East Indies (1800); Amelia Opie, 'Let not Sorrow Cloud thy Brow', 'To the Chace Let's Away', from Twelve Hindoo Airs (1800); Amelia Opie, 'A Hindustani Girl's Song', from A Second Set of Hindoo Airs (1800); John Leydon, 'Verses Written at the Island of Sagur', 'Ode to an Indian Gold Coin', from English Minstrelsy (1810); John Leyden, 'The Dirge of Tippoo Sultan', from The Poetical Remains of the Late Dr John Leyden (1819); John Lawson, 'The Hindoo's Complaint', from The Maniac (1810); John Lawson, 'Jagannatha', from Orient Harping: A Desultory Poem (1821); John Lawson, 'The City of Palaces', 'A Bengal Picture', 'A River Scene', 'Evening', from Miscellaneous Poems (1826); ‘W.’, from India: A Poem in Four Cantos (1812); William Henry Majendie, from Calcutta: A Poem in Four Cantos (1811); Maria Nugent, 'The Hour is Past – Oh Hour of Woe!', 'Lines, Suggested by a Visit to the Court of Lucnow, in 1812', 'Lines Written on Seeing the Taaje, at Agra', 'Written at Hurdwar', from A Journal from the Year 1811 till the Year 1815 (1839); John Hobart Caunter, from The Cadet: A Poem in Six Parts (1814); ‘Quiz’, from The Grand Master; or, Adventures of Qui Hi in Hindostan (1816); Henry Barkley Henderson, 'A Suttee', 'The Decoit: A Fragment' [extract], from The Goorkha, and Other Poems (1817); Henry Barkley Henderson, 'Satire IV' [extract], from Satires in India (1819); Writers of the Calcutta Journal, A Letter from Sir Anthony Fudge (1820); 'A Tale of Writers' Buildings', from Rinaldo, or the Incipient Judge (1820); Thomas Medwin, from Oswald and Edwin: An Oriental Sketch (1820); Thomas Medwin, The Pindarees [extract], from Sketches in Hindoostan, with Other Poems (1821); Thomas D'Arcy Morris, 'The Griffin' [extract], from the Bombay Gazette (1821); Thomas D'arcy Morris, 'The Midnight Boar', 'Meet me when Daylight may Dawn', from the Oriental Sporting Magazine (1831); George Anderson Vetch, 'The Suttee; or, Funeral Pile', 'Words Written for a Mahratta Air', 'On Hearing a Lady Sing a Hindoo Song in Scotland', from Songs of the Exile (1820); George Anderson Vetch, 'Sultry Hours: Metrical Sketches of India' [extract], from Poems: Containing Sultry Hours, and Songs of the Exile (1821); The Author of Shigram-Po, 'Jack Kightly came to Hinddostan', from The Life and Adventures of Shigram-Po (1821); The Author of Shigram-Po, Life and Adventures of James Lovewell (1829); James Atkinson, 'The City of Palaces', from The City of Palaces: A Fragment, and Other Poems (1824); James Atkinson, 'Odes to a Punkah!', from The Bengal Annual (1836); David Lester Richardson, 'Sonnet: Written on the Banks of the Ganges', 'Sonnet', 'An Indian Day', 'Sonnet: Written in India', from Sonnets, and Other Poems (1825); David Lester Richardson, 'Sonnet: The Suttee', from Sonnets, and Other Poems (1827); David Lester Richardson, 'Sonnet: Scene on the Ganges', 'London, in the Morning', 'View of Calcutta', 'Sonnet: Evening, on the Banks of the Ganges', from Literary Leaves (1840); David Lester Richardson, 'To Laha Pennoo: The God of War', 'To Bera Pennoo: The Earth Goddess', 'Lines to the Momory of David Hare', from Literary Chit-Chat (1848); Henry Meredith Parker, 'The Indian Day', from the Oriental Herald (1827); Henry Meredith Parker, 'The Prophesy of Timoor', 'Pindarry War Song', 'A Few Lines in Honor of the Late Mr Simms', from The Draught of Immortality, and Other Poems (1827); Henry Meredith Parker, 'The Adjutant: A Bengal Eclogue', 'Chateaux en Espagne', 'Young India: A Bengal Eclogue', from Bole Ponjis (1851); Reginald Heber, 'If Thou Wert by My Side, My Love', 'An Evening Walk in Bengal', from Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces of India (1828); Catherine Eliza Richardson, 'Song: Where Went My Sweet Ameerin?', 'Fragment: To the Memory of P C S', 'Ksihen Kower: A Fragment', 'Kishen Kower: Princess of Odeypoor', from Poems (1828); Charles D'Oyly, from Tom Raw, the Griffin (1828); James Young, 'The Mosquito's Song: A Calcutta Fragment', from the Bengal Annual (1830); Emma Roberts, 'A Scene in the Doaab', 'The Rajah's Obsequies', 'The Land Storm', 'Stanzas', from Oriental Scenes (1830); Emma Roberts, 'The Hindoo Girl', 'An Evening Scene in Hindoostan', 'Indian Graves', 'Sunset at Agra', from Oriental Scenes (1832); Augustus Prinsep, 'The Dakoit: An Indian Sketch', from the Bengal Annual (1831); 'Chestnut Owen', 'Frederick and Flora', from the Calcutta Magazine (1831); Robert Calder Campbell, 'Sonnets – Beejapore', from the Calcutta Magazine (1831); Robert Calder Campbell, 'Sonnets: Banks of the Gutpurba', from Calcutta Literary Gazette (1832); Robert Calder Campbell, 'Madras Mohurrim Song', from the Oriental Pearl (1834); Robert Calder Campbell, 'Sonnet: Scene in the Valley of Berar', 'Camp Lyrics', 'Sonnets Amidst the Ruins of Beejapore', 'The Cholera', from the Oriental Herald and Colonial Intelligencer (1839)
Volume 2
William Francis Thompson, from India: A Poem (1834); William Francis Thompson, 'The Jogi's Address to the Ganges', 'Indian Revelry', 'The Rajpoot's Lament', 'Song of the Hindoo Bandit', from The Bengal Annual (1834–6); William Francis Thompson, 'The City of the East' [extract], from The City of the East, and Other Poems (1837); The Author of 'Griffe Epistles', from The Oriental Observer and Literary Circle (1837); The Author of 'Griffe Epistles', Griffe Epistles: No. 8, Griffe Epistles: No. 12 [extract]; James Ross Hutchinson, 'The Sunyassee' [extract], from The Sunyassee, an Eastern Tale, and Other Poems (1838); Samuel Sloper, 'The Dacoit' [extract] from The Dacoit, and Other Poems (1840); James Abbott, from The T'hakoorine: a Tale of Maandoo (1841); James Henry Burke, from Days in the East: A Poem (1842); William Bingham, 'Thoughts on a Tomb', 'Juggernaut', from The Field of Ferozeshah (1848); Henry George Keene, 'The Gold-Finder', from Blackwood's Magazine (1852); Henry George Keene, 'The Tomb of the Suttee', 'Clive's Dream before the Battle of Plassy', from Ex Eremo: Poems Chiefly Written in India (1855); Henry George Keene, 'The Taj', from Peepul Leaves: Poems Written in India (1879); John Dunbar, 'Sonnet – Famine', 'The Voyage – A Fragment' [extract], 'Sonnet – Monghyr', 'The Adjutant and the Crow', 'Hog-HUnting, the Sport Par Excellence', 'The Regeneration of India', from Poems (1853); Thomas Seymour Burt, 'The Exile's Return' [extract], from Poems (1853); Mary Carshore, 'The Jumna's Victim, or the Minstrel's Dream', 'The Beara Festival', 'Rock of Jungeera', from Songs of the East (1855); Mary Johnson Jourdan, 'The Hindu Widower', 'The Pindarry to his Steed', 'The Charun's Curse', 'Chant of the Phansygar', 'Song of the Mahratta Saces', from Mind's Mirror: Poetical Sketches (1856); Ella Haggard, from Myra: or, The Rose of the East (1857); Mary Eliza Leslie, 'Sorrows and Aspirations', from Sorrows, Aspirations, and Legends from India (1858); ‘D M’, 'The Soldier's Death', from Scenes from the Late Indian Mutinies (1858); James Innes Minchin, from Ex Oriente: Sonnets on the Indian Rebellion (1858); Lionel James Trotter, 'A Rainy Day at Maulmain', 'The Year of Woe', 'Righteous Vengeance for Innocent Blood', from East and West; and other Poems (1859); Charles Arthur Kelly, 'Delhi' [extract], from Delhi and Other Poems (1864); Charles Arthur Kelly, 'Cawnpore', 'Henry Lawrence', 'Clive', 'Benares', from Delhi and Other Poems (1872); William Henry Abbot, Jr, 'The Chee-Chee Ball', 'The Boxwallah, or the Eastern Knight of Toggenburg', 'The Bengalee "Boy Jones" ', 'The Song of Death', from Lyrics and Lays (1867); William Waterfield, 'The Song of Kalindi', 'The Pilgrim's Return from Haridwara', 'To the Kalki Tree', 'On the Christening of an Infant in India', from Indian Ballads, and other Poems (1868); Robert Caldwell, 'Sir R–ch–rd T–mpl–'s Ghost', 'The Jollipore Ball', 'Captain Brown of the Police', from The Chutney Lyrics (1871); George Augustine Stack, 'Lament of Jaffir Mahomed, Pedlar', 'The Prizes, and the Dispossessed Zemindar', 'The Secret Punchayet', from The Songs of Ind (1872); Walter Yeldham, 'To a Griffin', 'Arabella Green, or the Mercenary Spin', from Lays of Ind (1873); Walter Yeldham, 'Cardozo, the Half-Caste', from Lays of Ind (1879); Edwin Arnold, 'The Rajpoot Wife', from Indian Poetry (1881); Edwin Arnold, 'The Snake and the Baby', from Lotus and Jewel (1887); Alfred Comyn Lyall, 'The Old Pindaree', 'Meditations of a Hindu, Prince and Sceptic', from Verses Written in India (1882); Alfred Comyn Lyall, 'Retrospection', from Verses Written in India (c.1885); William Trego Webb, 'The Bearer', 'The Ayah', 'The Zemindar', 'The Ryot', 'The Bengali Babu', 'The European Loafer', 'Slaughter Ghaut, Cawnpore', 'The Nautch Girl', from Indian Lyrics (1884); Thomas Frank Bignold, 'The Successful Competitor: No. 1', 'Our Peers', from Leviora (1888); George Herbert Trevor, 'Dixon Sahib', 'The Suttee of Gorah's Wife', 'Famine in Rajputana', from Rhymes of Rajputana (1894); ‘Ram Bux’, 'Young India ["There was a yound man of Bengal"]', 'The Bounding Babu; or, Young Bengal', 'Young India', 'Sati in 1887', from Boojum Ballads (1895); Alec McMillan, 'Anundorum Borooah', 'Address to the Wallahs of 1869', 'Song of the Ancient Spin', from Divers Ditties, Chiefly Written in India (1895); John Renton Denning, 'Enteric', 'At the Front', from Soldierin': a Few Military Ballads (1899); ‘S’, 'The Famine Relief Officer (I)', 'The Famine Relief Officer (II)', 'The Thug's Prayer', 'Nicholson's Grave', 'The Kutub Minar', 'Lachhmi Bai', from C. P. Pieces, and other Verse (1899); Adela Florence ('Violet') Nicolson, 'Story of Udaipore: Told by Lalla-ji, the Priest', 'Famine Song', 'The Garden of Kama: Kama the Indian Eros', 'Lalila, to the Ferengi Lover', 'Malaria', 'This Month the Almonds Bloom at Kandahar', from The Garden of Kama and other Love Lyrics from India (1901); Adela Florence ('Violet') Nicolson, 'Lalla Radha and the Churel', 'Trees of Wharncliffe House', 'The Jungle Fear', from Stars of the Desert (1903); Adela Florence ('Violet') Nicolson, 'Lallji my Desire', from Last Poems: Translations from the Book of Indian Love (1905); Alice MacDonald Kipling and Alice ('Trix') MacDonald Fleming, 'At the Dawn', 'Summer in the Indian Plains', 'In Captivity', 'Mine Enemy', 'In Camp', The Strength of the Hills', 'When He Left Simla', 'Where Hugli Flows', 'Rose Aylmer's Grave', from Hand in Hand: Verses by a Mother and Daughter (1902)