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The Humble Administrator's Garden
In this second collection of poems, Vikram Seth reflects on three cultures he knows well: India, California and China. The poet Donald Davie writes: 'Vikram Seth's poems should have an impact far beyond much noisier pieces; for when did we last see a volume in which the poet's eye is on what is objectively before him, rather than on the intricacies of his own sensibility?'
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First published January 1, 1985
About the author
Vikram Seth
60 books1,722 followersVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.
During the course of his doctorate studies at Stanford, he did his field work in China and translated Hindi and Chinese poetry into English. He returned to Delhi via Xinjiang and Tibet which led to a travel narrative From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986) was his first novel describing the experiences of a group of friends who live in California. A Suitable Boy (1993), an epic of Indian life set in the 1950s, got him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.
His poetry includes The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is children's book consisting of ten stories in verse about animals.
In 2005, he published Two Lives, a family memoir written at the suggestion of his mother, which focuses on the lives of his great-uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro) who met in Berlin in the early 1930s while Shanti was a student there and with whom Seth stayed extensively on going to England at age 17 for school. As with From Heaven Lake, Two Lives contains much autobiography.
An unusually forthcoming writer whose published material is replete with un- or thinly-disguised details as to the personal lives of himself and his intimates related in a highly engaging narrative voice, Seth has said that he is somewhat perplexed that his readers often in consequence presume to an unwelcome degree of personal familiarity with him.
During the course of his doctorate studies at Stanford, he did his field work in China and translated Hindi and Chinese poetry into English. He returned to Delhi via Xinjiang and Tibet which led to a travel narrative From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986) was his first novel describing the experiences of a group of friends who live in California. A Suitable Boy (1993), an epic of Indian life set in the 1950s, got him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.
His poetry includes The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is children's book consisting of ten stories in verse about animals.
In 2005, he published Two Lives, a family memoir written at the suggestion of his mother, which focuses on the lives of his great-uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro) who met in Berlin in the early 1930s while Shanti was a student there and with whom Seth stayed extensively on going to England at age 17 for school. As with From Heaven Lake, Two Lives contains much autobiography.
An unusually forthcoming writer whose published material is replete with un- or thinly-disguised details as to the personal lives of himself and his intimates related in a highly engaging narrative voice, Seth has said that he is somewhat perplexed that his readers often in consequence presume to an unwelcome degree of personal familiarity with him.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 1, 2022
It still boggles my mind to think how insanely productive Vikram Seth was in the decade leading up to the publication of A Suitable Boy. In the preceding years, he wrote his Tibetan travelogue and his California verse novel (both masterworks of their respective genres) and on top of these, he also found time to publish quite a few volumes of poetry, among which is this present collection. (How he also managed to work on a 1300-page family saga, I have literally no idea.)
It's a very uneven book though. The first of three sections consists of 15 poems set in China, from Seth's time there as a researcher in the early 80s, and it shows the poet in rare form. He roamed the vast land by road and river, when it was still in its phase of pervasive rural poverty, the Deng-reformed economy just trying to rev up to reach exit velocity. But that lay a decade ahead. Instead Seth saw the giant yet asleep, his travels taking him from Suzhou to Hangzhou, from sleepy Nanjing to rural Jiangsu province. Some of these sonnets attempt to describe the stillness and beauty of a classical garden, or an ancient temple, or a wheat field at dusk, or city walls at night; in doing so, they become perfect examples of stillness and beauty themselves. Precisely worded and carefully crafted, they are one with their subjects. There is so much of that East Asian sensibility in Seth when he is in this mood; a big task of his biographer will be to lay out just how and when that true oriental spirit entered into his personality and writing persona.
The last two sections are not really up to scratch, sadly. A brief smattering called Neem (India?) and finally a dozen poems set in his beloved California. It is clear that Seth was going through some serious heart trouble in the Cali phase; the theme of missing a lost lover comes back insistently, again and again, catching out the poet in all moods and weathers. But as I say, the drop-off in quality in these latter sections is very stark; most of the poems are ho-hum - poorly scanned, poorly rhymed - and an unfortunate few cannot rise past the level of amateur doggerel (see "Love and Work", for one). I can only imagine that these short pieces were dashed off in between the rigours of writing Golden Gate, maybe constituting a kind of mental break from the self-imposed task of out-Pushkining Pushkin himself!
So 4 stars for China, 2 stars for the rest? Not really sure how this book could have won the C'wealth Poetry Prize - the volume in its entirety doesn't scream "award winner". Lucky for us then that the next year he gave us his magnum opus.
PS Couple of the longer poems - Research in Jiangsu Province, Abalone Soup - were rather good.
It's a very uneven book though. The first of three sections consists of 15 poems set in China, from Seth's time there as a researcher in the early 80s, and it shows the poet in rare form. He roamed the vast land by road and river, when it was still in its phase of pervasive rural poverty, the Deng-reformed economy just trying to rev up to reach exit velocity. But that lay a decade ahead. Instead Seth saw the giant yet asleep, his travels taking him from Suzhou to Hangzhou, from sleepy Nanjing to rural Jiangsu province. Some of these sonnets attempt to describe the stillness and beauty of a classical garden, or an ancient temple, or a wheat field at dusk, or city walls at night; in doing so, they become perfect examples of stillness and beauty themselves. Precisely worded and carefully crafted, they are one with their subjects. There is so much of that East Asian sensibility in Seth when he is in this mood; a big task of his biographer will be to lay out just how and when that true oriental spirit entered into his personality and writing persona.
The last two sections are not really up to scratch, sadly. A brief smattering called Neem (India?) and finally a dozen poems set in his beloved California. It is clear that Seth was going through some serious heart trouble in the Cali phase; the theme of missing a lost lover comes back insistently, again and again, catching out the poet in all moods and weathers. But as I say, the drop-off in quality in these latter sections is very stark; most of the poems are ho-hum - poorly scanned, poorly rhymed - and an unfortunate few cannot rise past the level of amateur doggerel (see "Love and Work", for one). I can only imagine that these short pieces were dashed off in between the rigours of writing Golden Gate, maybe constituting a kind of mental break from the self-imposed task of out-Pushkining Pushkin himself!
So 4 stars for China, 2 stars for the rest? Not really sure how this book could have won the C'wealth Poetry Prize - the volume in its entirety doesn't scream "award winner". Lucky for us then that the next year he gave us his magnum opus.
PS Couple of the longer poems - Research in Jiangsu Province, Abalone Soup - were rather good.
December 9, 2019
"Whoever tastes the feast of life must drink
The cup of death. The traveller at the inn
Of mortality sooner or later leaves
That house of sorrow, the world......"
The cup of death. The traveller at the inn
Of mortality sooner or later leaves
That house of sorrow, the world......"
August 22, 2024
I enjoyed this a lot as it covers the different cultures that Seth has experienced: Indian, Chinese and American. A handful of the poems seemed out place though. I liked the one about Babur a lot. I like how Seth’s nature poems are written in the present tense about what is literally in front of him and I enjoy his command of rhyme and metre, which seemed more developed in this volume than in “Mappings” where it sounded a bit cheesy.
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November 21, 2019dull, uninspired, directionless, meaningless, and forgettable nonsense. id rather much re-read the phenomenology of spirit to even capture a hint of sensibility compared to this absolute garbage. the only good poem was the last poem because it was over.
January 30, 2026
Words flowing effortlessly and creating surreal images. I'm glad I stumbled upon this beautiful book by my favorite author.
Vikram is mesmerising with his writing. i enjoyed reading it in one sitting in one afternoon. I'll definitely read it again such are the realistic poems and emotions.
Vikram is mesmerising with his writing. i enjoyed reading it in one sitting in one afternoon. I'll definitely read it again such are the realistic poems and emotions.
April 11, 2025
More early poems from the author of my favorite book. A lot of squirrels in this one, oddly.
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October 6, 2024Gotta love a man who can use “verveless” and “love” to poetic effect. Couldn’t be the guy I was on a date with when I bought this 💀
A really nice combo travelogue-scenic poetry collection that was perfect for study breaks.
A really nice combo travelogue-scenic poetry collection that was perfect for study breaks.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews