Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works

Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works

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4
(2 Reviews)
Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works by Kalidasa

Published:

1912

Pages:

271

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3,281

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Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works

By

4
(2 Reviews)
Translated by Arthur W. Ryder

Book Excerpt

fortunate position in reading Kalidasa: we have substantially all that he wrote, and run no risk of ascribing to him any considerable work from another hand.

Of these seven works, four are poetry throughout; the three dramas, like all Sanskrit dramas, are written in prose, with a generous mingling of lyric and descriptive stanzas. The poetry, even in the epics, is stanzaic; no part of it can fairly be compared to English blank verse. Classical Sanskrit verse, so far as structure is concerned, has much in common with familiar Greek and Latin forms: it makes no systematic use of rhyme; it depends for its rhythm not upon accent, but upon quantity. The natural medium of translation into English seems to me to be the rhymed stanza;[3] in the present work the rhymed stanza has been used, with a consistency perhaps too rigid, wherever the original is in verse.

Kalidasa's three dramas bear the names: _Malavika and Agnimitra, Urvashi_, and Shakuntala_. The two epics are _The Dynasty of Raghu and

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Kalidasa was a classical Sanskrit writer, he is thought to have lived in the 4th and/or 5th century AD. He has written 2 plays, 2 epic poems and some lyrical poetry. This edition is a translation by Professor of Sanskrit Arthur W. Ryder (1877-1938) of some of the work by Kalidasi and was first published in 1912, the printed book has 218 pages. I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in Indian literature or culture.

The contents of this book is:
INTRODUCTION: KALIDASA--HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS
SHAKUNTALA
THE STORY OF SHAKUNTALA
THE TWO MINOR DRAMAS--
I. Malavika and Agnimitra
II. Urvashi
THE DYNASTY OF RAGHU
THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD
THE CLOUD-MESSENGER
THE SEASONS