The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems, edited by Abhay K., presents love poetry as a tradition shaped by many eras, languages and communities. In an excerpt from his introduction published by Scroll.in on November 4, 2020, K. describes a collection reaching across roughly three millennia, from classical poetry to modern writing, with sensual and devotional love often meeting on the page. Read the introduction excerpt at Scroll.in.
What is the anthology, and what does it set out to cover?
The book is an anthology of Indian love poems edited by Abhay K. Its editor describes it as spanning over 3,000 years and more than two dozen Indian languages. Those figures express the book’s stated scope, rather than an independently verified survey of every period or language in Indian poetry. Bloomsbury India describes the collection as covering three millennia. Bloomsbury India’s catalogue listing identifies the paperback edition by ISBN 9789390176656.
K.’s introduction connects ancient Sanskrit poetry with work in Tamil, Prakrit and later Indian languages, as well as poems by writers in English. It also says the collection includes Dalit, Tribal, LGBTQ and Indian diaspora poets. This is the editor’s description of the anthology’s reach; the introduction does not provide a complete account of representation or a catalogue-wide language count.
What makes its idea of love distinctive?
The introduction uses sringara rasa—an aesthetic category associated with love and erotic sentiment—as a way to think about love poetry. Rather than treating love as a single feeling, it attends to longing, separation and union. These are broad modes through which poets can explore desire, intimacy and emotional distance.
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K. also emphasizes that sensual and devotional love can overlap. In this framing, poetry addressed to a beloved and poetry shaped by spiritual devotion need not belong to entirely separate worlds. Nature, too, is more than a backdrop: the introduction describes it as an important presence in love poems, where the natural world can accompany or intensify a poem’s emotional life.
How are the poems presented?
The poems are arranged alphabetically by title, rather than grouped around the fame or status of their authors. K. says this choice is intended to put the poems themselves in the foreground. The translations are described in the introduction as contemporary, lucid and poetic English.
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That approach makes the book’s organizing principle clear, but the excerpt alone does not establish how every translation handles the choices and challenges of its source language. Readers looking for a particular poet, language or historical period may want to consult the book’s contents before choosing an edition.
Who might find this collection useful?
- Readers exploring Indian literary traditions: The stated scope brings classical, medieval and modern material into one anthology, with the editor presenting it across a wide range of languages.
- Readers interested in translation: The collection offers poems rendered in English, with the editor describing the translations as lucid and poetic.
- Readers drawn to varied forms of love: Its framing includes longing, separation, union, sensuality and devotion, rather than limiting love to one kind of relationship or expression.
- Readers seeking a representation overview: The introduction names Dalit, Tribal, LGBTQ and diaspora poets, but does not provide enough information to assess the collection’s representation comprehensively.
Where can readers find the book?
Bloomsbury India lists The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems in paperback under ISBN 9789390176656 and provides an Amazon purchase option on its catalogue page. Price and availability can change; check the listing for current details.
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