Indian Poetry: Containing "The Indian Song of Songs," from the Sanskrit of the Gîta Govinda of Jayadeva, Two Books from "The Iliad of India" (mahábhárata),"Proverbial Wisdom" from the Shlokas of the Hitopadesa, and Other Oriental Poems.

This 1881 anthology represents one of the earliest sustained efforts to bring classical Indian poetry to English-speaking readers. Sir Edwin Arnold, best known for translating the Bhagavad Gita, here renders selections from the Gīta Govinda, the sensuous Sanskrit masterpiece of divine love between Krishna and Radha, alongside episodes from the Mahabharata and wisdom verses from the Hitopadesa. The translations carry the lyrical, romanticized style popular in late Victorian Orientalism, with rich imagery of moonlit forests, longing lovers, and spiritual yearning. While the renderings reflect period conventions rather than scholarly precision, they capture the emotional core of these ancient poems: the ache of separation, the ecstasy of union, and the boundary between mortal desire and divine devotion. For readers interested in how Victorian-era Britons first encountered Indian literary tradition, or those curious about the source texts that influenced figures like William Blake and Yeats, this volume offers a fascinating window into cross-cultural literary exchange at the height of the British Empire.