Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/189

 ক IV.) BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 150 the movements of an elephant. The beauty of the hose was indicated by the beak of an eagle. Arms that reached down to the knee-joints were held as signs of manly beauty. The graceful steps of a girl were compared to the movements of a swan, and these and numerous similes like them became quite a craze with Bengali poets. Whenever a woman's beauty was to be described, the reader Not always ‘appropri- was certain to meet with such stereotyped figures tee: of speech, which in more modern times became extremely hackneyed and tiresome. We must re- member that this country was once covered with nature than they now are, the march of the elephant, slow and majestic, would attract the eyes. Ina sight so familiar, they might well discover points which would remind them of the stateliness of a graceful woman. On the Jungly banks of the beautiful Indian ¥hz/s, the grace of a swan’s move- ment was a frequent sight that attracted the eyes. But ages passed and the forests were cut down ; the wild elephants passed out of sight, and the swan ceased to be a common object, hence those similes were no longer thought applicable to the idea of beautiful maidenhood. But where they thus naturally failed, convention came to the rescue. Conventional phrases from the classics had great ডি onvention attractions for our poets, and with those who keeps did not themselves possess keen eyes for the oe observation of nature, they commanded an_ over- whelming influence. [I quote below a stereotyped description of beauty. However ludicrous it may appear in translation, the cadence of the rhythmical lines, added to the sweetness and sonorousness
 * forests, and in such ages when men lived closer to