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40 A HISTORY OF. HINDI LITERATURE version of the Singhasan Batttst, which was afterwards translated into Urdu by Lallu Ji Lai. Senapati was born about 1589 and died after 1649. He was a Kanauji Brahman and a devotee of Krishna. His principal work was the Kavitta Rat?idkar, which is dated 1649, and deals with various aspects of the art of poetry as well as other matters. He excelled in his description of nature, and is especially famous for his description of the six seasons in which he is considered to have excelled all Hindi poets with the exception of Dev Datt. Another work of his is the Kdvya Kalpadrum. His poems were probably written as detached verses and collected afterwards. The following is from his description of spring {basant): — " During the sportive spring the palas trees are in full bloom, with red flowers, parts of which however appeir from their blackness to have been dipped in ink. Swarms of bees are going to them to gather honey. The mild south wind is blowing fragrance in the gardens and forests. The poet Senapati says, ' In the spring, by constantly looking at these flowers the idea of writing poetry has been strongly brought to my mind.' The red glow of the upper part of the flowers clearly pourtrays the burning desire and yearning of a lover, while the blackness of the lower part, like a fire burnt out completely and turned to charcoal, suggests;,the pangs of separation." The Tripathi Brothers. — Ratnakar Tripathi was a Kanauji Brahman who lived at Tikvampur in the district of Cawnpore and had four sons, all of whom became famous Hindi poets. They flourished in the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb in the latter half of the seventeenth century and amplified and developed the work of Kesav Das. The eldest was Chi?itdmani Tripathi, who was patronised by several rulers as well as by the Emperor Shah Jahan. He is regarded as one of the great authorities on the subject of poetical composition {sdhiiya). Among his works are Chhand Bichdr, a treatise on prosody, Kdvya Vivek, Kavi-kul Kalpataru, and Kdvya Prakd's. He was also the author of a Rdmdyan in kavitta and other rnetres. The name of the youngest brother was Jata Sankar or Nil Kanth TripdthJ. Both Chintamani and Nil