A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c7.2

c7.2

There is a strongly marked character in Vedic prose, and no attempt has been made to imitate it in later times. But in order to distinguish Vedic from non-Vedic poetry, we must attend more closely to the metre. Several Vedic metres have been imitated by later poets, but there are metres which never occur in Vedic works, and which may be used as criteria for distinguishing ancient from more modern poetry.