Books by Dhan Gopal Mukerji

Sandhya, or Songs of Twilight (1917) is a poetry collection by Dhan Gopal Mukerji. Published while Mukerji was a young student in California, Sandhya, or Songs of Twilight is the second collection of poems from the first Indian writer to gain a popular audience in the United States. Lyrical and romantic, Mukerji¿s poems capture his commitment to beauty while maintaining his sense of isolation and exile as a young man living far from home. In ¿Symbolism,¿ the collection¿s opening poem, Mukerji is a poet in search of a song: ¿Tongueless the bell! / Lute without a song! / It is not night / It is God¿s dawn, / Silence its unending song.¿ Desperate for the beauty and truth of the world outside ¿pain¿s window,¿ he finds ¿Faith¿s candle lit,¿ lighting ¿Eternity¿s scroll¿ for the soul to read at last. Lyrically gifted and profoundly mysterious, Mukerji presents his creative process as a struggle with human emotions. Later, he grounds his feeling in the country he left behind: ¿O, frail, faint call which I seek to echo! / O, breath of love laden with the aroma of my soul! / Why seek I ever without, O guest at my door?¿ In ¿After a Bengali Song,¿ he provides a powerful image of isolation and longing from a heart that remains ¿without¿ for as long as his exile continues. Although he never returned to his native country, Mukerji left an inspiring legacy through his literary achievement and unwavering commitment to Indian independence. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Dhan Gopal Mukerji¿s Sandhya, or Songs of Twilight is a classic of Indian American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Rajani: Songs of the Night (1916) is a poetry collection by Dhan Gopal Mukerji. Published while Mukerji was a young student in California, Rajani: Songs of the Night is the debut collection of poems from the first Indian writer to gain a popular audience in the United States. Lyrical and romantic, Mukerji¿s poems capture his commitment to beauty while maintaining his sense of isolation and exile as a young man living far from home. In ¿Bhikshüs Song,¿ the collection¿s opening poem, the poet greets a Buddhist monk at the door, returning in memory to his native Bengal. Repeating the Bhikshüs mantra throughout¿¿Om Moni Padme Om!¿¿Mukerji allows himself to ¿drift with the stream / To [his] destination of dream.¿ An exile, Mukerji can only reach his homeland through memory and song, by infusing English meter with the sights and sounds of Bengal. ¿A singer that sings of sorrow; / Whose night knows no tomorrow; / [His] song finds its source / In its moonless immensity.¿ Although he never returned to his native country, Mukerji left an inspiring legacy through his literary achievement and unwavering commitment to Indian independence. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Dhan Gopal Mukerji¿s Rajani: Songs of the Night is a classic of Indian American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Mukerji (1890-1936) holds the distinction of being the first South Asian immigrant to have a successful career in the United States as a man of letters. This reissue of his classic autobiography, with a new Introduction and Afterword, seeks to revitalize interest in Mukerji and his work and to contribute to the exploration of the South Asian experience in America.