Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/847

 VI.] > BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 805 vowel sounds in its syllables. Rama Prasada was the first to attempt some of the Sanskrit metres in high-flown Bengali, and though his efforts were net crowned with a full measure of success, yet he discovered the innate strength of our language, which gave promise in his writings, of happier developments. In the Vidya Sundara by Rama Prasada we often find the right accent of vowels not adhered to, as required by the particular metre that he attempted. For instance in his ¢ofaka in the 110০ ধনি মুখ চিবুক ধরে যতনে 0)5 B is untenable in মু and 4 owing to its short sound. Inthe Hari lila by Jaya Narayana, another clever poet, who tried his hand at Sanskrit metres in Bengali compositions, we find his dhujanga prayata faulty in many places, ~ as for instance in the 1195 বসিয়া হবর্ণের গীঠে হাসিছে। প্রবালাবরে মন্দ মন্দ ভাসিছে,_)০ ই ঠা) 075 second and the eleventh letters and the 4] in the tenth letter of the rst line are incorrect, and in the second line the rst, the 7th, the roth, and the r1th letters do not conform to the rules required by the metre: the first three ought to have short sounds and the last (the rith) a long sound. Numerous in- stances of such faults may be found: but it was surely a bold step for writers to attempt Sanskritic metres in a language which had no long short and vowel-sounds In its current forms. But Bharata Chandra had a remarkable aptitude for hitting on the most appropriate words, and though he had to struggle against these disadvantages, yet he put the materials at his command to the best possible use. His remarkable power of choosing elegant expressions is best evidenced by the fact that though he successfully introduced some of the Bharata Chandra’s Signal success,