extended lengthwise in the loom, while the metrical portion will
answer to the cross-threads which constitute the woof.

The original verses are written in a great variety of Sanskrit metres.
For example, the first thirty-four verses of '[S']akoontalá' exhibit
eleven different varieties of metre. No English metrical system could
give any idea of the almost infinite resources of Sanskrit in this
respect. Nor have I attempted it. Blank verse has been employed by me
in my translation, as more in unison with the character of our own
dramatic writings, and rhyming stanzas have only been admitted when
the subject-matter seemed to call for such a change. Perhaps the chief
consideration that induced me to adopt this mode of metrical
translation was, that the free and unfettered character of the verse
enabled me to preserve more of the freshness and vigour of the
original. If the poetical ideas of Kálidása have not been expressed in
language as musical as his own, I have at least done my best to avoid
diluting them by unwarrantable paraphrases or additions. If the
English verses are prosaic, I have the satisfaction of knowing that by
resisting the allurements of rhyme, I have done all in my power to
avoid substituting a fictitious and meagre poem of my own for the
grand, yet simple and chaste creation of Kálidása.

The unrestricted liberty of employing hypermetrical lines of eleven
syllables, sanctioned by the highest authority in dramatic
composition, has, I think, facilitated the attainment of this object.
One of our own poets has said in relation to such lines: 'Let it be
remembered that they supply us with another cadence; that they add, as
it were, a string to the instrument; and--by enabling the poet to
relax at pleasure, to rise and fall with his subject--contribute what
most is wanted, compass and variety. They are nearest to the flow of