Old Tamil Poetry

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.”