This presentation will spotlight some famous Sanskrit and Prakrit love poems, read and interpreted today in English translation. The first step in this hermeneutical journey will be a prima facie interpretation, carried out from a naïve perspective, in the attempt to “understand” without the cultural burden of the literary and intellectual tradition that originated those very poems. The second step will be a deep dive into South Asian poetic theory, with the introduction and the analysis of some crucial aesthetic concepts (rasa, alaṃkāra, dhvani) as well as some heated debates concerning their usefulness and application to the poetical examples they are supposed to elucidate. The third and final step will be an attempt at re-reading the verses presented earlier on, now with the awareness of their cultural background and the range of differing interpretations they have inspired. By actively merging our initial impressions with the interpretations given by centuries of literary history, our final understanding will hopefully embody a veritable fusion of horizons, the sum total of our vitally present concerns, and the piercing insights from pre-modern South Asia.