Poets on Poetics

Poets on Poetics: Literary Aesthetics Envisioned by Sanskrit Poets uncovers the tenets of literary theory conceptualized by masters from Bharata to Jagannātha that are embedded in the works of poets from Vālmīki to Nīlakaṇṭha-dīkṣita. Poets typically present their insights in the form of suggestive verses and rarely as an organized body of facts. Their exposition, inchoate though it might seem, forms the foundation upon which a theoretical edifice can firmly rest. It gives us a glimpse of the propensities of various poets and reveals the subjective underpinnings of an objective science. This book, perhaps the first of its kind, sets out to describe those ideas of poets that are original, incisive and validated by experience. Full of and insightful observations and delightful verses, Poets on Poetics appeals equally to the head and heart and is a must-read for literary mavens.