Page:Classical Poets Of Gujarat.pdf/82

 70

these poets it may properly be said of Gujarat, that con- fused and confounded man, born to the religious diver- sities of this province, feels in despair that he must bow in reverence: to all Gods and Powers and poets that be, and that personally he must blindly follow his own family religion.

. The above picture will -speak for itself so far as it can. It is not necessary to repeat here that the poems, of these people, though directly religious, derive their materials from ideas and associations of social and domes- tic matters, and as such often present a real poetical value. Their influence on society, therefore, presents the: double aspect of religious and social features. Our knowledge of them would accordingly not be complete,. unless we can also cast at least a brief transient glance at the lights and shades they trail behind. If it isin- teresting and instructive to know how these poets sang and lived, a consideration of the influence of their works cannot be lessso. Butin this direction we can only infer and conjecture. For the poets lived among a people who are now dying away, and with whom we, from English schools and colleges, are out of touch when we find them living. Moreover, where religion and poetry have been blended together, how can it be possible to differentiate what the one may have done without the help of the other ?