Old Tamil Poetry

Kurunthokai – 18

Her friend says:

O’ Lord from the hills, where bamboo stalks
fence trees that have jackfruits growing in roots,
find an auspicious time to marry her soon;
who else knows her plight?
Like a small twig in which a huge fruit hangs,
her life is tenuous, but her love, immense!

தோழி கூற்று:

வேரல் வேலி வேர்கோட் பலவின்
சார னாட செவ்வியை யாகுமதி
யாரஃ தறிந்திசி னோரே சாரற்
சிறுகோட்டுப் பெரும்பழந் தூங்கி யாங்கிவள்
உயிர்தவச் சிறிது காமமோ பெரிதே!

This is another of Kapilar’s marvellous poems. After their usual tryst at night, he starts to go to his town. Her friend stops him and advices him that this nightly visits cannot continue forever. He has to marry her soon. Let’s first look at the last four lines of the poem. “Please find an auspicious time and marry her soon. Other than you, no one knows her plight. The passion she has for you is immense. Her life cannot carry such a burden for long.” The simile she uses is a huge ripening jack fruit hanging on a small twig. The twig cannot bear the fruit’s weight and the fruit may fall anytime and burst open, of use to no one. Similarly her passion is weighing on her life and she can’t bear it for ever. So marry her soon.

Jackfruit tree in my ancestral house. Fruits in both branches and roots.

Now to the first two lines. Her friend describes his hills as where jackfruits grow in roots underground. They are in no danger of falling down and bursting open. She implies “you don’t understand the plight of your lover. Jackfruits in your country are safe from falling down and are fenced with bamboo stalks so are in no danger of being stolen. But your lover’s status is like a huge jackfruit hanging in a branch, visible to all. It may either fall down or be stolen away. So act fast”

The last line ”இவள் உயிர் தவச் சிறிது, காமமோ பெரிது” portrays the burden of love beautifully. It is one of the most beautiful phrases ever in Tamil. Translating that is a tough ask. I have settled on “her life is tenuous but her love, immense”.

Also while describing the simile Kapilar uses “சாரல் சிறுகோட்டுப் பெரும்பழம்” which literally is “Huge fruits in small twigs in (trees that grow in) mountain slopes”. I wasn’t able to bring the slopes within the structure of the poem. Hence I have skipped it.

Kurunthokai – 290

Those who advice me to endure the pain of love,
do they even know about it? Are they so strong?
As for me, if I don’t see my lover,
with my heart swelling in grief,
like a spray of foam
dashing on rocks in high tide,
bit by bit I cease to exist.

‘காமம் தாங்குமதி’ என்போர்தாம் அஃது
அறியலர்கொல்லோ? அனை மதுகையர் கொல்?
யாம், எம் காதலர்க் காணேம்ஆயின்,
செறிதுனி பெருகிய நெஞ்சமொடு, பெருநீர்க்
கல் பொரு சிறு நுரை போல,
மெல்லமெல்ல இல்லாகுதுமே.

This Kurunthokai poem is about a girl pining for her lover. He hasn’t come to see her in a long time. Her friend asks her to be strong and bear the pain. In reply she says “those who talk about  enduring the pain know nothing about it. May be they think they are strong. But I am not. If I don’t see him soon, I will pass away  due to my grief”.

The simile used in this poem is remarkable. In high tide, the foaming waves dash on rocks and slowly dissipate and vanish. She says she too will cease to exist like that foam.

பெருநீர் is explained as great floods by U Ve Saminatha Iyer. Others too have followed the same meaning. However I think it makes sense as waves in high tide. This poem is in நெய்தல் திணை(the coastal landscape), where waves make more sense as a simile. பெருநீர் also means ocean. Hence I have taken பெருநீர் as high tide.

Kurunthokai – 102

If I think of him, my heart aches;
to not think of him, is beyond me;
my love pains me and grows sky high;
the man I love, is not a honorable guy.

உள்ளின், உள்ளம் வேமே; உள்ளாது
இருப்பின், எம் அளவைத்து அன்றே; வருத்தி
வான் தோய்வற்றே, காமம்;
சான்றோர் அல்லர், யாம் மரீஇயோரே.

Poem written by Avvayar. Her lover hasn’t come to see her in a long time. She is lovelorn. Her friend asks her not to fret. This is her answer to her friend. “I can’t think of him, I can’t not think of him. My love sickness grows by the day. But he hasn’t come as he promised. He isn’t some one who keeps his words.”

In the first sentence வேமே – வேகுமே – is normally translated as ‘burns’. I have used ‘ache’ as it fits better than burns here. வே also means distress according to Chennai University dictionary.

Kurunthokai – 43

Thinking “he won’t go” I was aloof;
thinking “she won’t agree” he was aloof too;
our big egos led us to bicker then;
my pained heart wallows in misery now,
as if from a Cobra’s sting.

”செல்வார் அல்லர்” என்று யான் இகழ்ந்தனனே;
”ஒல்வாள் அல்லள்” என்று அவர் இகழ்ந்தனரே:
ஆயிடை, இரு பேர் ஆண்மை செய்த பூசல்,
நல்அராக் கதுவியாங்கு, என்
அல்லல் நெஞ்சம் அலமலக்குறுமே.

This poem was written by Avvaiyaar, the leading poetess of Tamil Literature. Written 2000 years ago, it is as relevant today as it was then. This poem is a lament of how we let our egos erect walls in a relationship.

She thought he won’t go. So she kept quiet and didn’t ask him not to go. He thought that if he told her, she won’t let him go. So he kept quiet and didn’t tell her that he was going away. They both did not do what was needed to keep the relationship. This cold war naturally led to a tiff and he left. She laments  “because of our egos both of us bickered and now my heart suffers as if stung by a Cobra”. Why does she compare the pain of separation to a snake bite? A snake bite pains till one’s death. Similarly this pain of his going away will not alleviate till her death.

நல் அரா – Cobra / snake
கதுவு – grip ( a Cobra stings and holds on to the victim)
அலம் – misery
அலக்கு – move about (wallow)

Kurunthokai – 3

Larger than the earth, loftier than the sky,
lot more deeper than the ocean,
is my love for the man from the hillside,
where copious honey is drawn
from dark stemmed Kurinchi flowers.

நிலத்தினும் பெரிதே வானினு முயர்ந்தன்று
நீரினு மாரள வின்றே சாரற்
கருங்கோற் குறிஞ்சிப் பூக்கொண்டு
பெருந்தே னிழைக்கு நாடனொடு நட்பே.

Kurinchi flower  (pic:www.munnartourguide.com)

This is a well known poem from Kurunthokai (Kuru – short, Thokai – anthology. Anthology of 400 short poems). He is waiting for her. Her friend thinks that this clandestine relationship is going nowhere and chastises her. She replies saying my love for him is larger than the earth, loftier than the sky and deeper than the ocean. Bees drawing honey out of flowers in the hillside is a metaphor for their intimacy in the hillside. She indicates to her friend that their love has been consummated.

Kurinchi flowers bloom once in 12 years. (They last bloomed in Nilgiris in 2006). Honey from them is rare to obtain and sweeter. The poet uses it with the  adjective great – பெருந்தேன் (great honey). I have used copious. Bees are not explicitly mentioned in the original poem but implied. I have maintained the same in translation.

These lines written 2000 years ago, reminds one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s lines “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / my soul can reach” from her “How do I love thee” sonnet. Similar lines are also found in Petula Clark’s 1960s song My Love “My love is warmer than the warmest sunshine / Softer than a sigh / My love is deeper than the deepest ocean/Wider than the sky.”