The Meghaduta of Kalidasa, taken to be a lyrical gem on its discovery in the West, continues to be a classic. Contrary to the opinion in India which lauds this text as the culmination of a poetic use of words for their music in a conventional sense, the poem can now be taken to be a wonderful amalgamation of the use of the hard and the soft words in a use of diction and phraseology. It is, however, in the picturesque quality of his images apprehended in wonderful structural design that the poem comes to achieve its unequalled unity of effect. Born of the compelling impact of a single mood...

The Meghaduta of Kalidasa, taken to be a lyrical gem on its discovery in the West, continues to be a classic. Contrary to the opinion in India which lauds this text as the culmination of a poetic use of words for their music in a conventional sense, the poem can now be taken to be a wonderful amalgamation of the use of the hard and the soft words in a use of diction and phraseology. It is, however, in the picturesque quality of his images apprehended in wonderful structural design that the poem comes to achieve its unequalled unity of effect. Born of the compelling impact of a single mood...