Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
DUTT, MICHAEL MADHU SUDAN (1824—1873)
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: DRO-ECG
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:DUTT, See also:MICHAEL MADHU See also:SUDAN (1824—1873) , the greatest native poet of See also:India in the 19th See also:century, was See also:born at Sagandari, in the See also:district of See also:Jessore in See also:Bengal, on the 25th of See also:January 1824. His See also:father was a pleader in See also:Calcutta, and See also:young Madhu Sudan received his See also:education in the See also:Hindu See also:college of Calcutta, and was the foremost among the distinguished young students of his See also:day, many of whom lived to make their See also:mark in the literature and social progress of their See also:country. Madhu Sudan See also:left the college in 1842, and in the following See also:year ran away to avoid a See also:marriage intowhich his father wished to force him, and embraced the See also:Christian See also:religion. Continuing his studies now in the See also:Bishop's college, Madhu Sudan learnt See also:Greek and Latin and some See also:modern See also:European See also:languages, and in 1848 went to See also:Madras. There he wrote See also:English verses, and married the daughter of a European See also:indigo-planter, but was soon separated from her. He then See also:united himself with an English See also:lady, the daughter of an educational officer; and she remained true to him through See also:life amidst all his misfortunes, and was the See also:mother of the See also:children he left. With her Madhu Sudan returned to Calcutta in 1856, and soon discovered that the true way for winning See also:literary distinction was by See also:writing in his own See also:language, not by composing verses in English. His three classical dramas--Sarmishtha, Padmavati, and See also:Krishna Kumariappeared between 1858 and 1861, and were recognized as See also:works of merit. But his See also:great ambition was to introduce See also:blank See also:verse into See also:Bengali. His knowledge of See also:Sanskrit See also:poetry, his appreciation of the Greek and Latin epics, and his admiration of See also:Dante and of See also:Milton, impelled him to break through the fetters of the Bengali See also:rhyme, and to See also:attempt a spirited and elevated See also:style in blank verse. His first poem in blank verse, the Tilottama, was only a partial success; but his great epic which followed in 1861, the Meghanad-Badha, took the See also:Indian See also:world by surprise, and at once established his reputation as the greatest poet of his See also:age and country. He took his See also:story from the old Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana, but the beauty of the poem is all his own, and he imparted to it the pathos and sweetness of Eastern ideas combined with the vigour and loftiness of Western thought. In 1862 Madhu Sudan left for See also:Europe. He lived in See also:England for some years, and was called to the See also:bar; and in 1867 returned to his country to practise as a See also:barrister in Calcutta. But the poet was unfitted for a lawyer's vocation; his liabilities increased, his See also:health failed, his See also:powers declined. He still wrote much, but nothing of enduring merit. His brilliant but erratic life ended in a Calcutta See also:hospital on the 29th of See also:June 1873. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] DUTROCHET, RENE JOACHIM HENRI (1776-1847) |
[next] DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu,... |