Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair : Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess [Paperback]

Ramaprasada Sena (Author), Clinton Seely (Translator), Leonard Nathan (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

These poems written in the eighteenth-century in Bengal, express his passionate devotion for the praise of the Great Mother Goddess -- primarily in her manifestation as Kali, the dark goddess, guardian of the cycles of birth and death. His work emerges from s bhakti-or devotional-tradition, which revolted against the Brahman -- dominated Hindu orthodoxy of the time. These poems traverse a spectrum of moods -- from the wild despair of an abandoned child to the intoxicated hilarity of a man drunk with the Goddess's love.

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Language Notes

Text: English
Original Language: Bengali

About the Author

Ramprasad Sen's poems traverse the spectrum of human experience, from vibrant joy to shadowy moods, from the sorrow of an abandoned child to the intoxicated hilarity of a man drunk with Kali's love, to the high calm of a worshiper tasting release. At once powerful and gentle, brash and subtle, these poems speak to the modern reader with ageless passion.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Hohm Press (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934252947
• ISBN-13: 978-0934252942
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bhakti poetry with a touch on tantra, June 10, 2000

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M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair : Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess (Paperback)

If you are unfamiliar with the ecstatic religious poetry tradition - Rumi, Mirabai, ... this is not the volume to start on; read Mirabai's For Love of the Dark One first. However, if you have some familarity with the tradition, you'll find this book fascinating - this is more recent (18th century) and closer to the tribal origins of the worship of Kali/Uma/Pavarti/Gauri/Tara. These poems are popular in the sense that they have been kept alive through oral transmission rather than written manuscripts. One poem with a surprising rural flavor stands out: ".../My body is Tara's field/ in which the God of Gods/ like a good farmer / sows his seed with a great mantra. / Around this body, faith / is set like a fence / with patience for posts ..."