“I am still writing verse, but have done nothing worthy to send you... I…” — Manmohan Ghose | V2Melody

“I am still writing verse, but have done nothing worthy to send you... I sincerely doubt whether I should ever write a poem of any length.”

A revealing moment of artistic self-doubt from a poet still developing his voice · Letter to Laurence Binyon, Oxford period

About Manmohan Ghose

Manmohan Ghose

19 January 1869–4 January 1924

In the annals of Indian literature, few figures occupy a position as quietly significant yet fundamentally pioneering as Manmohan Ghose (19 January 1869 – 4 January 1924), one of the earliest Indian poets to write substantially in English. Born in Bhagalpur in Bengal, Ghose's life represents a fascinating narrative of…

More by Manmohan Ghose

Poems by Manmohan Ghose

More remarks by Manmohan Ghose

“It is one of my great aims to inform and persuade people on that subject and I should reproach myself if I neglected this occasion.”

Showing his sense of responsibility to explain India's circumstances to an English audience · Letter to Laurence Binyon, Oxford period

“Love is as necessary to me as to every other human being. I may imprison myself in solitude and devote every hour to calm cultivation yet without this the richest gains of mind will in the end seem as dust.”

Insisting that intellectual achievement cannot compensate for the absence of human affection · Letter to Laurence Binyon, March 1889

“We do not want our civilization done away with, and European civilization brought in—we want the old framework of Indian civilization reconstructed and new life put into it.”

Arguing for renewal within Indian culture rather than its replacement by European models · Letter to Laurence Binyon, October 1887