His early writings were in English, but they were unsuccessful. He turned, reluctantly at first, to Bengali. His main works, written mostly between 1858 and 1862, include prose drama, long narrative poems, and lyrics. His first play, "Sarmistha" (1858), was well received. His poetical works are "Tilottamasambhab" (1860), a narrative poem on the story of Sunda and Upasunda; "Meghnadbadh" (1861), his most important piece, an epic on the Rāmāyaṇa theme; "Brajangana" (1861), a cycle of lyrics on the "Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa" theme; and "Birangana" (1862), a set of 21 epistolary poems on the model of Ovid’s Heroides. 