Page:Bengal Celebrities.djvu/123

 accorded to him in Bengal. Hem Chandra was patriotic to the core of his heart and some of his poems breathe the true spirit of a devoted son of his mother country. His poetry is marked by a vigour which is not found in other poets of Bengal and sustained throughout by a lofty imagination. By a strange irony of fate the votaries of the Muses have to purchase their favour at a very dear price; and such a price our Hem Chandra had also to pay later on in his life; he lost his eyes, which compelled him to give up his practice in the High Court. He had not been able to save anything in his better days; the consequence was that he fell on evil days as he had nothing to fall back upon. He had to depend entirely on the munificence of literary patrons. The Government recognised his talents, and tried to relieve his distress by bestowing on him an insignificant literary pension of Rs. 35 per month. Distressed as Hem Chandra was, he was still unaltered in his affection for the Muses. The poems of his dark days are full of pathos. Wisdom being quite shut out at one entrance, the inward light shone with greater brilliance until all was dark in 1894, when the poet left this world of cares for a better one.