Toru Dutt

Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (Dodo Press) Toru Dutt

Toru/Torulata Dutt (1856-1877) was an Indian poet who wrote in English and French, and made a mark in literature in spite of her premature death. After publication of several translations and literary discussions, she published A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, a volume of French poems she had translated into English, with Saptahiksambad Press of Bhowanipore, India in 1876. Eight of the poems had been translated by her elder sister Aru. At the time of her death, she left behind two unpublished novels - Le Journal de Mademoiselle d'Arvers and Bianca; or, The Young Spanish Maiden - in addition to an unfinished volume of original poems in English, Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan. Her father, Govin Chunder Dutt, ensured that these works would be published posthumously: Bianca in Calcutta's Bengal Magazine (1878), Le Journal by Didier of Paris (1879), and Ancient Ballads with Kegan Paul (1882). Her Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan was a great beginning in Indo-Anglian writing.