VI. ] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 621
and Vidu Brahmini—accessories to illicit love
of the most revolting type. The descriptions of
‘men and women are often marred by overcolouring
‘like those of the beards of Hudibras described by
‘Butler in a well known lengthy passage. |
But a literary epoch cannot be wholly without
its redeeming features. There must be some really
meritorious points by which it can attract and make The
people its votaries, reconciling them even to its vices. Seniesa
In this age, a rigid classical taste gave a unique ©Poch.
finish to the Bengali style and enriched it with the
variety of Sanskrit metres that so powerfully appeal
to the ear. Bharata Chandra Ray, the court poet
of Raja Krisna Chandra, stands alone in the field
of our old literature as a word-painter. No poet
before him contributed so much to our wealth of
expression or had such success in importing ele-
gance to our Sanskritic metres.. The poet here,
like a true Indian artizan, applied himself patiently The
to the sphere of decorative art. He hunted for and ae es
- . arata
found choicest expressions and strung them into’ Chandra. the most elegant metres and carried the whole school of Bengali poets after him maddened by the zeal to imitate his style. The~-heart. had been feasted. to satiety on the emotions contained in the Vaisnava literature, the ear now wanted . to be pleased. High sentiments-expressed in rich poetry had abounded in the literature of the Vaisnavas ; enough of such. The scholars would have a_ brief day of their own. They would show feats of clever expression, pedantry and wealth of words strung together with masterly skill. The people were drawn by this:nevelty. After the strain of a high- strung idealistic spirituality, they were glad to revel
