“It cost me many a tear to kill him.”
A letter, stating his feeling about the tragic hero Meghanad of the Ramayana (1860), as quoted in Māikela Madhusūdana (1973) by R̥shi Dāsa - 1973.
Contexte: I got a severe attack of fever and was laid up for six or seven days. It was a struggle whether Meghanad will finish me or I finish him. Thank Heaven. I have triumphed. He is dead, that is to say, I have finished the VI Books in about 750 lines. It cost me many a tear to kill him. The poem is rising into splendid popularity. Some say it is better than Milton — but that is all bosh — nothing can be better than Milton —, many say it licks Kalidasa —, I have no objection to that.
