Preface
This paper was prepared for and read in 1892 before the Wilson College Literary Society. It is the first contribution of its kind to the literature of the subject with which it deals. It attempts to apply the historical method of criticism to the study of the Gujarati poets. There are evident reasons for shortcomings in such a treatment of this sub-ject. But in spite of all difficulties it may be pre-dicted that future labourers in this field will not find their task hopeless. The longer poems usually end with a statement of the dates of their composi-tion and short notices of their authors. Although the head notes in the volumes of the Kavya-dohana as to the dates, &c., of the poets are based on tradition and may not be accurate, the poems them-selves supply intrinsic evidence of the approximate correctness of the dates generally. The introduc-tions and notes to the publications of the Baroda State throw very valuable light on several matters. We hear of further inquiries being undertaken in other quarters. When we take up these results side by side with the history of Gujarat and of religious upheavals in that country, we can discover the key-notes of the poetry that has been sung there at divers times and under varying circumstances. The attempt made in this direction in this paper is necessarily a crude one, and it only claims to be a beginning upon which others may improve hereafter. The paper also deals with the influence of the poets on society and morals. This is a most delicate and difficult subject to ronch, especially in our present stage of historical ignorance. But we are not altogether wanting in materials. Once we are able to arrange and understand the historical strata of Gujarati poetry, the next work would be to decipher the secrets of social conditions imbedded therein. Connect the rosults of this process by the light of the history of Gujarat as also of the whole of which it forms but a fraction in different aspects, and we arrive at information of no mean value. If we can add to this an acquaint-ance with the actual social and domestic con-ditions of the people among whom the poets lived and sang, we may be able to realize the latest evolu-tions of the influence of the poets by comparing the present with the recent past, and that past with its predecessor and so on, until we are able, by putting together link after link of the progress of ages, to form a conception of some whole. The pursuit of a method of this kind must ever be a work of time and energy. The writer of the present paper is fully alive to the defects in his application of this method as also to the poorness of the results of his small labours. But, in matters like these, one may plead an exception to the rule that he who professes to edify readers must first have fully edified himself. The exception may apply when one writes with the humble object of inviting co-operation and inspiring fellow-labourers. The attainment of such an aim can hardly be despaired of in these days of University education.
About The Book
It is the first contribution of its kind to the literature of the subject with which it deals. It attempts to apply the historical method of criticism to the study of the Gujarati poet. There are evident reasons for shortcomings in such a treatment of this subject. But in spite of all difficulties, it may be predicted that future labourers in this field will not find their task hopeless. The longer poems usually end with a statement of the dates of their composition and short notices of their authors.
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