The volume opens with The Indian Song of Songs, an English rendering of Jayadeva's Sanskrit pastoral drama Gîta Govinda. This central work traces the turbulent romance between the god Krishna and the cowherd maiden Radha, using the intense longing of earthly separation as an allegory for the soul's yearning for the divine. Krishna, distracted by the fleeting pleasures of earthly maidens who personify the senses, falls into profound remorse when Radha withdraws in grief. Through a series of tender messengers, appeals, and reproaches, the poem details the painful journey of repentance before the final, harmonious union of the divine lovers in paradise.
Following the introductory masterpiece, the collection presents a varied treasury of miscellaneous Oriental poems drawn from diverse cultural traditions and legends. Among these is The Rajpoot Wife, a dramatic tale of Rajput devotion and vengeance where a faithful wife penetrates an enemy camp disguised as a dancing girl to avenge her captive lord. Another prominent piece, King Saladin, retells Boccaccio's famous romance of medieval chivalry and royal generosity, highlighting the noble hospitality exchanged across the religious divides of the Crusades.
The final major section offers two substantial book-length translations from the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, specifically focusing on the seventeenth and eighteenth parvas. The Book of the Great Journey depicts King Yudhishthira and his brothers abandoning their earthly crown to seek salvation on Mount Meru, accompanied only by a faithful dog. As one by one the princes fall along the desolate path due to subtle human flaws, Yudhishthira presses on alone, refusing to enter paradise without the humble animal that trusts him.
The culminating Book of the Entry into Heaven presents a profound moral turning point where Yudhishthira discovers his foes throned in bliss while his beloved kinsmen suffer in the nether regions. His steadfast refusal to abandon his family, even choosing hell over a solitary heaven, prompts the gods to reveal the ultimate illusion of suffering and error. The volume concludes with wise proverbial shlokas from the Hitopadesa and lyrical devotional hymns, capturing the ethical and philosophical depths of ancient Eastern literature.
