Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/335

 KABIWALAS 3) which were meant to be more racy and effective than any- thing else. Coarseness, scurrility and colloqualism, un- redeemed by any sense of artistic expression, began to increase in volume and ultimately Kabi-songs subsided inte vulgar and abusive verbiage. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that to many a modern reader, Kabi-literature connotes little more than fend and bad ‘taste ; but it must not Better quality of be forgotten that in its ineeption, i Seiten i ahi ncdtey, gotten that in its ineeption, it drew its inspiration from a purer source. The sincere religiotsness of the earlier Kabi- songs is unmistakable and inspite of later importation and = popularity of subjects like Bzraha or Its religious themes. i ae a . রর Sikhi-sambad,' religion still conti- nued to supply the essential ingredient. Although there are many things which at once mark them off from the Baisnab poets, the earlier Kabiwalas were in more than one sense, nearly allied to their great predecessors, When Baisnabism and its romantic literature had subsided lower and lower into a kind of decrepitude in the 18th century and a militant Sakta literature of a more or less classical type had grown up, the Kabiwalas, in however groping fashion, tried to keep up the older tradition and sang generally of Raidh& and Krsna. The classical form of art which had taken shape in the 18th century and culminated in the writings of Bharat Chandra was the result as well as the cause of the rapid decline of Baisnabism and its ' Sakhisathbad was not secular in theme but in spirit. It included such things as Prabhati or Bhor-gan (Awakening of Radha or Krsna _ in the morning or Radha’s morning appearance as a khandita), Gostha, (in which figure YoSodaé, the boy Krsna and his boy-companions), mathur (where Kubji and Brenda generally come in), besides Uddhaba- sambad, Prabhas etc,