The imagery in the Ancient Tamil literature works such as Kurunthogai and Pura Nanooru are very rich. Out of the blue this Kurunthogai poem came to my mind and I googled it and reached here
- http://karkanirka.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/kurunthokai-40/
Sempula pei neer - Water raining on red earth - Wow, isn't that wonderful? A.K.Ramanujan has done commendable work translating poems from Ettu Thogai and Pathu Paattu - Poems of Love and War.
40. குறிஞ்சி
யாயும் ஞாயும் யார் ஆகியரோ?
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம் முறைக் கேளிர்?
யானும் நீயும் எவ் வழி அறிதும்?
செம் புலப் பெயல் நீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாம் கலந்தனவே.
- செம்புலப்பெயனீரார்
….
Kurunthokai 40 –
What could be my mother be
to yours?what kin is my father
to yours anyway?And how
did you and I meet ever?
But in love our hearts are as red
earth and pouring rain:
mingled
beyond parting.
Translated by A.K.Ramanujan
2 comments:
Poor guy how much effort he has put to write the poem, had you not posted the transaltion I would have put double the effort to understand. or may be more or may be still trying to understand.
People like me who dont know tamil and are unable to learn the literature but yearn to learn need a lot of incentive like this...... good.
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