_Rishyas._ The arms of many? that can not be true?
O, have I fallen into demon-snares? Is beauty not the bloom of piety? Speak.
_Koïl_ (_at length overwhelmed_). I am not holy--nor am I pollution! But only one sent hither--O, the gods Bid us to sin, then fell us with calamity!
[_Hurries weeping off with SUNANDI, who has stood in terror. RISHYAS stands dazed, then comprehension dawns upon him and he falls by his father's body in a storm of anguish._
"These poems are flashingly, glowingly full of the East.... What I am sure of in Mr. Rice is that here we have an American poet whom we may claim as ours." _The North American Review_ (_William Dean Howells_).
"Mr. Rice has the gift of leadership, and he is a force with whom we must reckon." _The Boston Transcript._
... "We find here a poet who strives to reach the goal which marks the best that can be done in poetry." _The Book News Monthly_ (_A. S. Henry_).
"When you hear the pessimists bewailing the good old time when real poets were abroad in the land ... do not fail to quote them almost anything by Cale Young Rice, a real poet writing to-day.... He has done so much splendid work one can scarcely praise him too highly." _The San Francisco Call._
"In 'Many Gods' the scenes are those of the East, and while it is not the East of Loti, Arnold or Hearn, it is still a place of brooding, majesty, mystery and subtle fascination. There is a temptation to quote such verses for their melody, dignity of form, beauty of imagery and height of inspiration." _The Chicago Journal._
"'Love's Cynic' (a long poem in the volume) might be by Browning at his best." _Pittsburg Gazette-Times._
"This is a serious, and from any standpoint, a successful piece of work ... in it are poems that will become classic." _Passaic_ (_New Jersey_) _News._
"Mr. Rice must be hailed as one among living masters of his art, one to whom we may look for yet greater things." _Presbyterian Advance._
"This book is in many respects a remarkable work. The poems are indeed poems." _The Nashville Banner._
"Mr. Rice's poetical plays reach a high level of achievement.... But these poems show a higher vision and surer mastery of expression than ever before." _The London Bookman._
_Successfully produced by Donald Robertson_