Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/447

DEVOTIONAL SONGS 423 Thus Burdwan, like Nadiya, bad been for a long time the centre of these activities, and we find even Maharaja Maha- {abehand, who was a song-writer of no mean merit, carrying on this literary tradition till his death in 1897. Of this Burdwan group the most famous and indeed the most remarkable poet is Kamalakanta Bhattacharyya, a native of , Ambikanagar in Kalna who subse- উল quently removed to Kotalhat in Burd- wan and lived under the royal patronage of Maharaja Tejaschandra. Of the later group of devo- tional poets, Kamalakanta approaches Ram-prasad_ very closely in tone and feeling and style. Mahatabchand printed in 1857 from the poet’s own manuscript nearly 250 songs which have been thus beautifully preserved. This collection was reprinted in 1885 by Srikanta Mallik in Caleutta under the title Kama/atanta Padabali' and it certainly deserves reprint again. It is impossible within the limited seope of our plan to analyse these three hundred songs in detail or to quote extensive specimens which alone would illustrate the depth, variety and beauty of Kamalakainta’s songs. Like the songs of his great predecessor Ram-prasad, his songs reveal to us the inward history of his spiritual life, the various stages of his religious experience from worship and adora- tion to the attainment of the state of highest felicity. It is not his meditative speculation nor his theological tenets nor the vague coating of symbolism in his songs which constitute their charm ; over and above all these tower his spiritual sense, his imagination and his emotions, his extra- ordinary personality ; and the palpitating humanity which vivifies every line imparts a soul-felt meaning to his devotional sonzs. He expresses common needs, common ‘ A copy of this was lent to me by the Sahitya Parigat Library.