4.0
Love and The Turning Seasons
By Andrew SchellingPublisher Description
For thousands of years, India has excelled at erotic love poetry, and the genius of its devotional poetry often harnesses great energy and mystical insight. It is in fact often hard to tell whether the poets are offering poems of spiritual longing using the garment of love poetry, or writing erotic poems in the guise of devotion. Perhaps, in a country where erotic sculpture routinely ornaments its many temples and the gods are known for their explosive sexuality, this question has little meaning to these remarkable writers. In their devotional traditions, eroticism and mysticism seem inseparable.
This wonderful selection spans 2,500 years, and includes work originally sung or recited by their well–known bards: Kabir, Mirabai, Lal Ded, Vidyapati and Tagore. There are also poems from the Upanishad, from ancient Sanskrit poetry and Punjab folk lyrics. The poets have largely emerged from the ranks of the dispossessed: leather workers, refuse collectors, maidservants, women, & orphans. Their vision is of a democratic society in which all voices count, much like American gospel and blues, Shaker songs, or the grand vision of Walt Whitman. Often they faced persecution for speaking candidly, or daring to speak of spiritual matters at all. The notes include profiles of these legendary lives. Several of these poets simply vanished, absorbed into a deity, or disappeared in a flash of purple lightening. A few produced miracles—most of them have clouds of mystery around them.
Andrew Schelling has drawn on the work of 24 other translators, including Ezra Pound, Robert Bly, W. S. Merwin, Jane Hirschfield and Denise Levertov, to build what will be the finest anthology of India's erotic and spiritual poetry for the general read ever assembled.
This wonderful selection spans 2,500 years, and includes work originally sung or recited by their well–known bards: Kabir, Mirabai, Lal Ded, Vidyapati and Tagore. There are also poems from the Upanishad, from ancient Sanskrit poetry and Punjab folk lyrics. The poets have largely emerged from the ranks of the dispossessed: leather workers, refuse collectors, maidservants, women, & orphans. Their vision is of a democratic society in which all voices count, much like American gospel and blues, Shaker songs, or the grand vision of Walt Whitman. Often they faced persecution for speaking candidly, or daring to speak of spiritual matters at all. The notes include profiles of these legendary lives. Several of these poets simply vanished, absorbed into a deity, or disappeared in a flash of purple lightening. A few produced miracles—most of them have clouds of mystery around them.
Andrew Schelling has drawn on the work of 24 other translators, including Ezra Pound, Robert Bly, W. S. Merwin, Jane Hirschfield and Denise Levertov, to build what will be the finest anthology of India's erotic and spiritual poetry for the general read ever assembled.
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4.0
Aishwarya
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“"Love pierced me like a nail driven into a green tree."
"My conflicted heart treasures even his infidelities."
"You will know how love can burn!"
Eliot Weinberger introduces oriental Indian love poetry's beautiful compelling history and why it has been overlooked in the Western literary community.
The book focuses on spiritual-erotic love poetry, meaning the Lord and the lady love who's an incarnation of a Goddess in human form. We need to keep in mind that these two themes go hand in hand in Indian culture and literature. Every poetry falls under one of the four designated seasons -
• Spring - Youth, mirth, hope
• Summer - Desire, sensuality
• Autumn - Loss, longing
• Winter - Spiritual transcendence
It's really surprising that Andrew Schelling meticulously created a structure that would hold these poetries in four seasons, and the readers get to explore different moods and themes, simultaneously, enjoying the verse! Brilliance at its best!
I loved this book! Schelling covers Upanishads, Manikkavasagar, Andal, Nammalvaar, Lal Ded, Dhurjathi, Varkaris, Muktabai, Janabai, Tukaram, Kabir, Mirabai, Dadu Dayal, even Tagore and more poets! This blows my mind! I got to read amazing poems dedicated to various God's that I didn't know existed!
Oh and we definitely need to talk about the efforts of the translators! Deben Bhattacharya, Robert Bly, Dilip Chitre, Simock Jr., KM Ghose, Arun Kolatkar, AK Mehrotra, AK Ramanujan, Velcheru Narayana Rao, Ezra Pound, Andrew Schelling himself! Aside these known personas there are a few more from American poets.
If you're someone who cannot seem to put erotic theme in spirituality, you should not pick up this book. But, if you're anything like me, a literature person, pick this up! This does not come close to "The Appeasement of Radhika" but still, a good read. Definitely recommended!”
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