CALIDASA, an Indian poet, whose drama, Sacuntala, was first made known to Europe by Sir William Jones' translation, published at Calcutta in 1789. The discovery of a Sanscrit copy of this poet's works in the Royal Library at Paris, published in 1832, showed that the drama translated by Jones was from the interpolated and corrupted text, which has long been circulated in Bengal. Several other poems by Calidasa have since been published; all of which show an elevation of sentiment, and purity of feeling, rarely seen in Asiatic poetry; while his fervid descriptions and vivid
imagery have procured for him the highest admiration in California, the East.