 Hello learners, welcome to the audiovisual program on the course titled Poetry, included in second semester Bachelor of Arts in English program. I am Dr. Chayanika Roy from the Discipline of English, Padmanath Guhaibara School of Humanities, Krishnakanta Handik State Open University. This video deals with unit number 11, which is titled Introducing Indian English Poetry. Please note, dear learners, that this is the first of the two video lessons on this unit. Well, what does the term Indian English Poetry signify? To deal with this question, we have to first gain an understanding of Indian English Poetry in general. For that reason, this video shall aim at the following objectives. To provide you with a basic idea of Indian writing in English, to acquaint you with pre-independence Indian English poetry, and to reflect on the important points who have contributed to the development of pre-independence Indian English Poetry. The term Indian English Poetry encompasses within its scope all such works of poets who are Indians writing in the English language. It must be noted that literature in English was produced in India much earlier. In fact, it dates back to second half of the 18th century. The poetry inspired by the Indian landscape and culture was called Anglo-Indian. These Anglo-Indian poets were British people who, through their poems, had shared their experiences about India. It was in the later part of the 19th century that Indian poets like Henry Louis Vivien de Rosio literally came out taking English as the medium of expression. Earlier termed as Indo-Englian to mark the Indian writing in English, Indian English poetry can be best understood by dividing the works of poets as pre-independence and post-independence poetry. And as mentioned previously, even before independence, there were writers like Henry Louis Vivien de Rosio who had composed poems on various Indian sentiments, establishing himself as the first Indian English poet. He initially served as a lecturer in Hindu College of Calcutta but later dismissed from service on grounds of misleading the students with his skeptical nature and reformist ideas. Within the short span of his poetic career, he contributed two poetry collections which were named as Poems, published in 1827 and The Fakir of Jahangira, A Metrical Tale and Other Poems, published in 1828 respectively. De Rosio as a poet was much influenced by Byron and the Romantics. When we glance through De Rosio's poetic output, we find that the relevant themes in his poetry are patriotism, love for Indian myths and legends, and a strong Indian sentiment. Apart from De Rosio, there were several other poets who contributed to pre-independence Indian English poetry. Namely, Kasi Prasad goes, Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, Govind Chandra Dutt, etc. However, it was Toru Dutt who had significantly raised the stature of Indian English poetry with her authentic flavour. One can see a strong influence of English Romanticism in her works. Toru Dutt's A Shiff, gleaned in French field, published in between 1856-7 became very popular. Her poems like Our Casuarina Tree, The Lotus, etc. showed a strong resemblance to the poetry of English Romantic poets. Her themes therefore mostly include love, nature, longing for the past, etc. It is important for us to remember her as the first Indian women poet who could make a mark in the field of poetry with her distinguished sense of simplicity and sincerity by writing in a foreign language i.e. English. Next, in the history of Indian English poetry, the contribution of Sri Aurobindo is remarkable. Some of his poems are Love and Death, Ahana, Baji Prabhu, etc. He has to his credit numerous translated works like The Hero and the Nymph, Songs of the Sea, etc. His most popular work is Savitri, a narrative poem consisting of about 24,000 lines. One of the significant women poets contributing to pre-independence Indian English poetry was Sarojini Naidu, who had made her mark through her poetry. Her first published work of poetry was The Golden Threshold, which appeared in 1905. The Bird of Time published in 1912 is her second collection of poetry. She had penned down many songs and was considered as the Nightingale of Indian Song, as quoted by Iyengar. She matured as a poet with each poetry collection and her last collection title The Broken Wing had seriousness of tone. Actively participating in the dance politics of the country as well as fighting for women's causes, Sarojini Naidu was a gifted speaker. She had dedicated poems to Gandhi and Jinnah also. They were some of the notable poets who wrote before independence. To sum up, it must be noted that Indian English poetry has been emerging ever since its beginning in the late 18th century, from Anglo-Indian poets to poets of Indian origin. Indian English poetry has seen tremendous growth in its output. Earlier it was imitative of the West, but gradually it has strengthened its base by producing many authentic works. Among the pre-independence poets, some names like Derozio, Torudat, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu, etc. are worth mentioning. Following are a list of books which you can refer to in your learning process. Thank you.