Narsinhrao Divatia (

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

: નરસિંહરાવ ભોળાનાથ દિવેટિયા) (1859–1937) was a poet, linguist and critic of

Gujarati literature The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, othe ...

Life

He was born on 3 September 1859 in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Bholanath Divetia Bholanath Sarabhai Divetia (1822 – 11 May 1886) was Gujarati poet and religious reformer from India. Biography He was born in a Nagar Brahmin family from Ahmedabad. He studied law and served as a government servant during British rule in India ...

. He completed Bachelor of Arts in Sanskrit from

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

in 1880 and stood first in University for which he was awarded Bhau Dajee Prize. He passed Indian Statutory Civil Service examination and was appointed Assistant Collector of Kera district in 1884. He retired early due to his ill health in 1912. He settled in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and taught Gujarati at Elphinstone College in 1921 to 1935. He presided over

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society an ...

in 1915. He was elected as a fellow of Bombay branch of

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

in 1924. He died on 14 January 1937.

Works

Poetry

He transferred the flow of Gujarati poetry into new pattern. He was the first poet of Gujarati to write lyrics in the pure western style. His first poetry collection was '' Kusumamala'' published in 1887. It was followed by ''Hridyavina'' (1896), ''Sarjatraini Sushupti'' (1912), ''Nupurzankar'' (1914), ''Smaran-Sanhita'' (1915). ''Smaran-Sanhita'' is an elegy written following death of his son Nalinkant which follows the style of British poet

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

's ''

In Memoriam A.H.H. The poem "In Memoriam A.H.H." (1850) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is an elegy for his Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died of cerebral haemorrhage at the age of twenty-two years, in Vienna in 1833. As a sustained exercise in tetrametri ...

''. He wrote the popular prayer ''Mangal Mandir Kholo'' in Gujarati.

Prose

His ''Smararanmukur'' (1926) is pen pictures of his contemporaries and predecessors. ''Vivartleela'' (1933) is a collection of essays written under pen name Gyanbal.

Criticism

The four volumes of ''Manomukur'' (1924, 1936, 1937, 1938), ''Abhinaya Kala'' (1930) and ''Gujarati language and literature'' (1932) are collections of essays and lectures of criticism.

Others

''Buddhacharit'' (1934) is a Gujarati translation of

Edwin Arnold Sir Edwin Arnold KCIE CSI (10 June 183224 March 1904) was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work ''The Light of Asia''.The Light of Asia ''The Light of Asia'', or ''The Great Renunciation'' (''Mahâbhinishkramana''), is a book by Sir Edwin Arnold. The first edition of the book was published in London in July 1879. In the form of a narrative poem, the book endeavours to describ ...

''. He was a pioneer linguist in Gujarati literature. As a linguist, his contributions are ''Wilson Philological Lectures'' Part 1 (1921) and Part 2 (1932).

References

* ''Milestones in Gujarati Literature'' by K M Jhaveri. * Brahmbhatt, Prasad. (2003) ''Kavyasarita. (Literary Criticism of the evolution of Poetry)''. Ahmedabad: Parshwa Publication. * Trivedi, Ramesh. M. (1994) ''Arvachin Gujarati Sahityano Itihaas. (History of Modern Gujarati Literature)''. Ahmedabad: Adarsh Prakashan. * Trivedi, Ramesh. M. (2005) ''Gujarati Sahityano Itihaas. (History of Gujarati Literature)''. Ahmedabad: Adarsh Prakashan.

External links

* * {{Authority control Gujarati-language writers Gujarati-language poets 1937 deaths 1859 births Writers from Ahmedabad 19th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian poets Indian literary critics 19th-century Indian linguists 20th-century Indian linguists Indian literary historians Indian male poets