DEVOTIONAL SONGS 415 Narachandra could indulge in such intimate, familiar yet significant expressions towards his special divinity :— নেংটা মেয়ের বত আদর জটে ব্যাটা ত বাড়ালে নইলে কেন ডাকৃতে হবে দিবানিশি মা মা বলে ॥ শ্রীরাম জগতের গুরু জটে ব্যাট! তার গুরু আপনি কেটা বুঝলেনাকে! রইল শ্যামার চরণতলে ॥ বিষম পাগল জটে ব্যাটা শ্মশান ত তার মৌরস পাটা (আবার) বেটার এম্নি বুকের পাটা জটের বুকে পা-টা দিলে ॥ These spiritual effusions of devout heart, therefore, are in a sense beyond criticism; and in order to appreciate these songs one must realise the entire mentality of these devotee-poets, their systems of belief, the earnestness, warmth and vigour of their simple faith, the transport and exaltation of their spiritual mysti- Character of these ism, What these poets give us is songs. উর not the meditative speculation of systematic philosophers, nor the intellectual subtlety of trained logicians nor the theological commonplaces of religious preachers, but the life-long realisation of an intensely spiritual nature. The songs, therefore, represent not a professional effort but a born gift, or a gift acquired through religious worship and aspiration. It is, however, a gift or an enthusiasm, which is in fact an inspiration, a mood of divine madness which draws from visible and familiar things an intuition of unknown realities. Its treatment of the facts of religious experience is not the less appealing but all the more artistic because it is so sincere and geuuine, because it awakens a sense of conviction in ourselves. The temper is essentially that of a seeular lyric. It is not transcendental nor beyond the sphere of artistic expression because the inspired artist makes us feel the reality and universality of his individual passion, and the
