Thirty Songs from the Panjab and Kashmir. Recorded by Ratan
Devi, with Introduction and Translations by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, and a Foreword by Rabindranath Tagore. (Luzac & Co., 46 Great Russell Street, W.C.).—We can only briefly draw our readers' attention to this deeply interesting collection of folk-songs from India. "Ratan. Devi" is an Englishwoman, and some doubt might be felt as to the accuracy of her records were it not for the tribute paid to her by Mr. Tagore in his preface. "Neither tunes nor times," he says, "were the least modified to make them simpler or to suit them to the European training of the singer." The Western ear may find it hard, anyhow at first, to appreciate the melodies ; but something of the beauty of the words can be felt by everyone, thanks to Mr. Coomaraswamy's translations. Here, for instance, are a few lines that bear the title "Death" :—
" Iffy Lord has not spoken, he sulks since the afternoon— The wheat crops are ripe, the rose trees in bloom.
I need not thy earnings, only come to the Pang!) again 1 Thou rarest away on thy journey, but I am left desolate : Oh I the empty house and the courtyard 1111 me with fear— The wheat crops are ripe, the rose trees in bloom."
—We must mention at the same time the last issue of the Journal of the Folk-Song Society (19 Berners Street, W.), which contains a delightful collection of songs, chiefly from Sussex, which has been made by Mr. G. S. Butterworth.
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