OXFORD University Press in Karachi is bringing out selections from Urdu poets keeping in view the common readers of poetry. They are booklets containing selected ghazals or poems by distinguished poets, each with a brief introduction to the poet written by the compiler. The series is running under the title ‘Urdu Virsa’.

It is a good idea with an educational value. People in general have a taste for poetry and very much like to know about the poets they like. Each individual in our society carries a few couplets in his memory, which he had the opportunity to listen to on some occasion, for example in a mushaira. People very much like to recite verses in the company of their friends. And as Josh has said:

However, these people, in spite of their liking for poetry, are content with a few couplets they have heard somewhere or have read casually in some book or in a journal. They may be classed as casual readers of poetry. They will hardly care to go to bazaars and purchase collections of verses. In most cases they can’t afford this kind of luxury. But perhaps they will not mind spending a small sum of rupees on the purchase of a booklet carrying a wealth of fine couplets by their favourite poets. Of course, it is not a bad bargain if, by spending a small sum of money, one may have in his or her possession a small wealth of precious poetry.

However, in spite of the educational value of such a series I feel the plan stands in need of some improvements. The lot I have received consists of seven booklets containing selections from Ghalib, Momin Khan, Ameer Minaee, Nadir Kakorvi, Sahir Ludhianvi, Perveen Shakir and Majeed Lahori. This list of poets gives the impression that they have been picked out at random without bothering to see if they have something in common to make a uniform series. For instance, Majeed Lahori was a journalist and wrote humorous and satirical verses, which acted as comments on the behavior of politicians and the political situation of those times. With his journalistic temperament he belonged to a different category.

Different kinds of poets should not be published haphazardly under one series. Instead they should be serialised separately in accordance with the trends they represent or in accordance with the literary period they belong to. So Momin Khan will fit well in a series reserved for ghazal writers belonging to the classical period. Sahir Ludhianvi, on the other hand, should be accommodated in a series reserved for progressive poets. The poets defined as modernists should go to make a separate series.

These books, taken together, would form a grand series of Urdu poets. This series will perhaps appear more homogeneous and meaningful. In addition, the reader will also have an introduction to the literary trends prevalent in Urdu poetry and the literary periods which form the history of Urdu poetry.