OPINIONS.

They are interesting and remarkable.—­Lord Tennyson.

It is a great pleasure to me to find that a native of South India has so distinguished himself.—­The Right Hon. Sir M.E.  Grant Duff, G.C.S.I.

It is not often that natives succeed so well as you have done in English versification.—­H.H.  Kerala Varma, C.S.I.

Krishnapore irresistibly reminds us of Auburn, the fortunes of Seeta are in many respects not unlike those of Evangeline, and some forms of expression seem to be coined in the mint of Tennyson....  These tales possess peculiar interest as first-fruits in poetic literature of that amalgamation of Eastern and Western thought that is going on before us at the present day in this country.  They are tales of India, descriptive of Indian scenery, and marked by many traits both of custom and of feeling that are characteristic of India....  These tales—­tales of woman’s constancy and woman’s heroism—­are pleasing in themselves; and the language in which they are told is simple, imaginative, and marked by a well-sustained melody.  The tales are dedicated to Lord Tennyson by “His Lordship’s ardent admirer in the Far East”; and certainly they move in the atmosphere of the Tennysonian idyll.—­Madras Christian College Magazine.

Much of the versification is very pleasing, and where it is best, it has a decided ring of Tennyson in it....  The author possesses true poetical genius.—­Calcutta Statesman and Friend of India.

SEETA AND RAMA:—­The story is pretty, though simple.  In parts, moreover, the author, who is anonymous, displays the true spirit of poetry, which he (or she) will do well to cultivate....  The tributes of respect for the heroism, purity, and constancy of women which are found in Mr. Ramakrishna’s poems are in accordance with the teaching of the Mahabarata, as well as the spirit of the Laureate’s verse.  Added to this very engaging feature of his work, there is a power of description that is very remarkable in a man to whom English is not his mother tongue.  For example, “Seeta and Rama” commences with the following vignette:—...  “All this is in excellent taste.  And the same may be said of his delineations of character.  He is never wearisome or trite, and ... he succeeds in enlisting the interest and sympathy of his reader and in proving that—­as Mrs. Grant Duff lately said—­there is ’an indefinite amount of beauty and charm in everyday life’ in Southern India.”—­Madras Mail.

SEETA AND RAMA:—­A very pretty and pathetic, though simple little story, told in the true poetic vein, and possesses a deep melancholy interest....  They are simple tales, told in English verse, which is characterised by a purity and a simplicity that are very noteworthy in an Indian writer, and which show considerable acquaintance of the English language, especially of Tennyson’s writings.  Indeed, of them all is true what was said of the first poem, not only according to the Christian College Magazine, that some forms of expression seemed coined in the mint of Tennyson, but, according to the Statesman and Friend of India, that where the versification is best it has a ring of Tennyson.—­Madras Times.