This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 edition. Excerpt: ...the similar lines in Hymn to the Supreme Being, st. 16. It was apparently a favorite image. See Browning's reference to it in his poem on Smart. heaping up of the treasures of nature, an almost barbaric splendor of images. Does the poet wish to say that all nature praises God? The earth passes before him as in a vision. The great song of adoration swells upon his ear from every form of harmonious activity. Seasons change, almonds glow, tendrils climb, fruit trees blossom, birds build their nests, bell-flowers nod, the spotted ounce and her cubs play, harvests ripen, wild carnations blow, the pheasant shows his glossy neck, the squirrel hoards nuts, the map of nature is crowded with scenes of beauty, the crocus "burnishes alive " upon the snow-clad earth, the bullfinch sings his flute note, the redbreast balances on the hazel spray, silver fish glide through rivers, cataracts fall, fruits are luscious, gums give out incense, all to " heap up the measure, load the scales " with praise to the Lord who is great and glad. In this rapid summary there is a pomp, an energy, an activity that is indescribable. A later stanza on strength is almost terrifying in its powerful imagery. " Strong is the lion--like the coal His eyeball--like a bastion's mole His chest against the foes: Strong the gier-eagle on his sail, Strong against tide the enormous whale Emerges as he goes." I know nothing like it except Blake's Tiger which is marked by the same tenseness and abrupt energy. Many of the details in Smart's poems were drawn from his reading, especially from the Hebrew Scriptures. They could not have come from observation for they have little to do with the " old, oft catalogued repository of things in sky and wave and land." The images are fresh, ...

The Present Book Is A Detailed Exposition Of The Multiple Dimensions Of Creativity In Men And Women Vis-À-Vis The Difference Of Sexuality And Gender As Mirrored In Their Texts. This Innovative And Perceptive Study Confronts The Essentialist Biodeterministic Standpoint That Men And Women Are Out And Out Different, Dissimilar And Divergent. By Discussing The Texts Of The Post-Independence Men And Women Poets Of India And Drawing Comparisons Between Them, It Asserts That, Despite Certain Biological Differences, Men And Women Are Similar In Many Ways. By Employing Theoretical Approaches Based On Psychoanalysis, Linguistics, Poetics, Reader-Responses And Cultural And Gender Studies, The Book Expounds That Gender Or Sexuality Can Make Some Difference To The Aesthetic But It Cannot Solely Determine The Content. The Social, Cultural And Political Milieu Of The Day Plays A Crucial Role In Deciding The Content And Object Of Writing, Besides Conditioning The Psyche And Thought Process Of The Author, More Than Gender Or Sexual Difference Does. This Study Provides New Insights Into The Varied Aspects Of Man-Woman Relationship, The Nitty-Gritty Of Different Family Relations, The Milieu, Human Correlation With Nature, And Metaphysical Questionings Of Life, Death, God And Human Existence, Besides Analyzing The Influence Of Gender And Sexual Difference On Poetic Craft, Particularly On Language, Style And Technique.It Analyses The Poems Of Over Twelve Major Indian Men And Women Poets And Compares Them In Terms Of Diverse Themes, Diction And Idiom, And With Particular Focus On The Workings Of Gender And Sexual Difference. The Major Poets Discussed Are Nissim Ezekiel, A.K. Ramanujan, Keki N. Daruwalla, Shiv K. Kumar And Jayanta Mahapatra Among Men And Monika Varma, Kamala Das, Gauri Deshpande, Sunita Jain, Suniti Namjoshi, Mamta Kalia And Eunice De Souza Among Women.Since These Authors Are Prescribed In The English Syllabi In The Universities Of India, This Study Will Be Extremely Useful To The Students And Teachers. The General Readers Who Are Interested In Indian Literature In English Will Find It Interesting And Informative.