पान:राज्यारोहण.pdf/९

VIII

FORWORD.

idea of using his poetical talent for the purpose of idealis- ing the events and memories of the Royal Visit and the Coronation Durbar at Delhi. Mr. Agashe took up the sug- gestion, faithful to the call of his friend, and we have now the Poem entitled "Rajyârohana" (Coronation of the King) which is presented to the public in the following pages. It commemorates in Marathi verse what forms a new epoch in the history of our country.
 I am not competent to write critically of the merits of the poem, but this I may venture to say that if it is a correct definition of poetry that it is a revela- tion of life, Mr. Agashe's muse has well revealed to us the life and soul of the events of the Royal Visit and the Coro- nation Durbar. One of the striking features of the poem is that throughout Mr. Agashe impresses his reader into the lesson of the spiritual character of the Coronation ceremony. As the reader follows him line by line and as the varied metre changes its melody, the thought grows more and more upon the mind that the ceremonies and sights of the Durbar, the movements and speeches of Royalty were more than show and sign-they revealed a new life of harmony between England and India. Of that new life breathed into the people by the Royal Visit, we had first the promise and then the performance, says Mr. Agashe in effect in his introductory lines. What was the promise? When as Prince of Wales, our King-Emperor visited India in 1905, he touched our hearts by declaring that sympathy is and ought to be the key-note of British rule in this country. And when as King-Emperor His