"This is one of the first books in any language on the life and work of Miraji (1912-49), a member of the triumvirate of canonical Urdu poets of the twentieth century. Lyrical Movements, Historical Hauntings aims to unravel the paradox of an acclaimed modernist writer whose poems are widely regarded as impossibly difficult to comprehend.

It also grapples with the vexed issue of how to speak of a Muslim male poet who wrote under a Hindu woman's name, and whom contemporary critics described as mad, sexually perverse, and a voyeur." "Miraji's short life spanned the final period of British colonialism in South Asia, and his work played a part in the nationalist struggle."--BOOK JACKET.