and dance." Contemplating upon the contemporary human condition, and by focussing on the urban through an ironic mode of perception, Ezekiel seems to be drawing our attention toward the pastoral. I further suggest that Ezekiel's poetry should be viewed as a metaphoric journey into the heart of existence; into the roots of one's self or being which embodies both mythic and existential dimensions of life. This endless quest for meaning and identity, intertwined with the search for a poetics, provides Ezekiel with the sense of creative continuity. Through the juxtaposition of art and life he envisions a state of harmony between the inner and outer landscapes. Thus, from the existential-esthetic viewpoint, his poetry represents a structure of creative reality in which all the dichotomies of life are encompassed, in which contraries exist side by side, and in which the encountering self seeks resolution from within the tension caused oy opposing forces in nature and in the heart of man and woman. This structure of creative reality is an emblem of a continual process which reveals itself through myraid names and -,-, forms, relations and themes, ironies and paradoxes, failures and realizations, The above-stated process is fully at work in the poems selected for this issue. Of course, there is much else besides, because the poems published here include not only verses from Nissim Ezekiel's five published volumes of poetry, but also a generous sampling of his poems written and/or published after The Exact Name (1965), Of Ezekiel's recent verse. Poems Written And/Or Published During 1965-74, Poster Poems (1973), Poster Prayers (1973), and Poems Written in 1974 should be of particular relevance and interest to general readers as well as professional criticSe From tne point of view of growth of the poet's mind and art, all the major poems or clusters of poems are arranged in a chronological order, except that selections from Early Poems (1945-48) and Poems (1950-51) are printed in the same order as they originally have in the volume called Sixty Poems (1953) -- these early poems are not shifted from their original position because of their proximity in time, style or manner with the compositions of A Time to Change (1952), I hope that all of these poems, written over a period of more than twenty-five years, represent him truly -- as a poet of remarkable strengths as well as occasional weaknesses. The two plays reprinted in this issue are aimed at showing Ezekiel's talent in tne genre of d^ama and its forms such as tragi-comedy and farceJ2 Marriage Poem explores the psychological tensions inherent in married life in which the husband betrays signs of infidelity, real or imaginary, and in which the wife lacks tact and understanding and resorts to fruitless nagging. Ihe Sleepwalkers is a one-act farce filled with moments of sheer hilarity; it is intended to be satirical of the vain and opportunistic behavior of the regional writers in India and the materialistic attitudes of the affluent in America. The dialogue in both the plays is realistic and effective, Botn the plays have succeeded on the stageo It is quite evident that Ezekiel specializes in the dramatic "situations" of existence through which he seeks the meaning of life in modern society. What impresses me most about these plays is Ezekiel's concern for the human, which quite often lurks behind his comic masks. Ezekiel is a serious writer; almost all his writings are characterized by poetic sincerity. Tne one prose piece included here represents Ezekiel at his best as a critic -- forthright and honest. In tnis