The secular verses collected in this volume represent a highly civilized and artistic aspect of Sanskrit literature. For many readers in the west, Indian literature means the Bhagvadgita or the Kamasutra; in selecting this anthology the editor seeks to redress the balance. Composed in classical Sanskrit, the poems were written mainly between the fourth and tenth centuries AD. A purely literary language by the fourth century, Sanskrit contains a wealth of synonyms and lends itself to a strict metrical form with complex and subtle sound patterns. The compactness and condensation of which the language is capable, couped with longer and more elaborate metres, means that a single four-line stanza may cover as much ground as many a European sonnet. Graceful and elegant in expression, the verses cover a diversity of subject matters and styles and illustrate the richness of poetic invention and imagination shown by these ancient poets.