Save me from my love sickness – Narrinai 63
I came across this beautiful poem. When I was reading the commentary I understood the brilliant structure of this poem. So put in some effort to give the essence of the poem with a neat word to word translation.
63. நெய்தல்
உரவுக் கடல் உழந்த பெரு வலைப்பரதவர்
மிகு மீன் உணக்கிய புது மணல் ஆங்கண்,
கல்லென் சேரிப் புலவற் புன்னை
விழவு நாறு விளங்கு இணர் அவிழ்ந்து உடன் கமழும்
அழுங்கல் ஊரோ அறன் இன்று; அதனால்,
அறன் இல் அன்னை அருங் கடிப் படுப்ப,
பசலை ஆகி விளிவதுகொல்லோ-
புள் உற ஒசிந்த பூ மயங்கு அள்ளல்
கழிச் சுரம் நிவக்கும் இருஞ் சிறை இவுளி
திரை தரு புணரியின் கழூஉம்
மலி திரைச் சேர்ப்பனொடு அமைந்த நம் தொடர்பே?
அலர் அச்சத்தால்தோழி சிறைப்புறமாகச் செறிப்பு அறிவுறீஇயது.-உலோச்சனார்
What her girl friend said,
the lover within earshot,behind a fence
On the new sand
where fishermen,
their big nets
ripped apart by an angry sea,
dry their great hauls of fish
in a humming neighborhood
of meat smells,
a laurel tree blossoms
all at once in bright clusters
fragrant as a festival,
but this unfair town
is noisy with gossip.
And what with an unfair Mother too
keep strict watch over us,
will our love just perish here
in sallow patches,
this love for our man
of the seashore
where petals
loosened by the traffic of birds
mix with the mud of the backwaters,
where the big-maned chariot horses galloping there
are washed clean
by the waves of the sea?
Poet:Ulocannar
Translated by A.K.Ramanujan
Situation:
Thalaivan and Thalaivi have met each other , fallen in love. The have made secret night meetings(most probably made love). Then the girl is struck by love sickness. The mother of the girl notices it and keeps her in a house arrest(gossips are . This makes it difficult for the Thalaivan to meet Thalaivi. Thalaivi here urges the Thalaivan who is hiding behind trees to be bold and come forward and marry her .
To understand the structure of the poem , I felt that it is necessary to understand the whole poem line by line. So I have broken my head for a week(surely an exaggeration) and given here a word by word translation
1.உரவுக் -கடல்- உழந்த- பெரு -வலைப்பரதவர்
In constant motion-sea-(caused)suffer-(to the)big-net-(using)parathavar(resident of mullai tract )
2.மிகு -மீன் -உணக்கிய -புது -மணல் -ஆங்கண்,
huge quantity(of) – fish-(being)dried-(in)new- sands – there(that place),
3.கல்லென் சேரிப் புலவற் புன்னை
sound of excitement-(in the)coastal village- (with) smell of fish -(where) punnai tree
4.விழவு நாறு விளங்கு இணர் அவிழ்ந்து உடன் கமழும்
(with)festival(like)-fragrance- renowned-cluster of flowers- opens(blossoms)- emits fragrance
5.அழுங்கல் ஊரோ அறன் இன்று; அதனால்,
loud noisy – village – (which is)virtue – no (virtue less);that’s why,
6.அறன் இல் அன்னை அருங் கடிப் படுப்ப,
virtue-less-mother(’s)-(has set)fear(ful)-trap
7.பசலை ஆகி விளிவதுகொல்லோ-
paleness(love sickness)-become-extinct-will it (would the love(of chieftain of the sea) get extinct in love sickness)
8.புள் உற ஒசிந்த பூ மயங்கு அள்ளல்
birds-with force(sit and)-bend (the branches)under weight-flower-(is)tossed-(into)mud(dy)
9.கழிச் சுரம் நிவக்கும் இருஞ் சிறை இவுளி
marsh/backwater-salt (salty backwater)-remain-(on)tight bond- horse (muddy marsh on horse bound to the chariot)
10.திரை தரு புணரியின் கழூஉம்
waves-cause(by)-sea-cleanse(mud on the horse) by wash
11.மலி திரைச் சேர்ப்பனொடு அமைந்த நம் தொடர்பே?
abundance-sea-chieftain of the sea-happened-our -relationship(love).(should come as continuation of the line with paleness)
Now check the first line,
The sea which is in constant motion causes big suffering to the Parathavars who use big fishing nets.
Emotion of the line: Suffering
Now the second line,
Huge quantity of fishes dried in the new sands of their village
Emotion of the line : Happiness – though they suffered in the sea , their hard work is payed off with huge quantity of the catch they have brought home. A enduring a suffering has resulted in great pleasure.
Third line,
The village buzzing with excitement is filled with smell of the fish
Smell: Stinking fish smell
Fourth Line,
Festival like fragrance emitted by the blossomed clusters of the punnai flowers
Smell: Fragrance – The stinking smell of the fish is offset by the festival like fragrance of the punnai flowers.
(Source-http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Sultan%20Champa.jpg)
Now lets jump to line 9,
The muddy backwater stays on the horse bound to the chariot
Appearance: Dirtiness – horse with mud all over it.
Line 10,
is washed away by the waves caused by the sea
Appearance: Cleanliness. The mud in the body of the horse while walking in the muddy swarms is cleansed by the waves of the sea.
Now lets come to other part,
Line 5,
The virtue less village is noisy with gossips.
cause: Gossips about the girl in the village.
Line 6,
The unfair mother keeping her in strict watch(fearful trap)
Effect: Girl being house arrested.
Now the finishing effect:
Line 7,
will the love with the chieftain die with the paleness of her body
Explanation: due to love sickness the women’s skin has become pale. Like the skin getting lighter day by day would her love also gets faded every day?
Line 8,
The birds by their force bend the branch and make the flowers fall down in the muddy backwaters
Explanation: Compare this to line 5 and 6. The villagers (birds) by their gossips(force) make mother house arrest the girl(bend the branch) and make the girl fall into love sickness(flowers falling down into the muddy back waters)
Now let me assemble different parts of the puzzle in the right place:
The suffering of fishermen are eased by their catch(huge quantity of fish).
The stinking smell of the fishes are nullified by the fragrance of the punnai flowers.
The dirtiness of the horse washed clean by the waves of the sea.
All these three lines suggest that any suffering can be eased out by certain other actions.
So comes the last line,
Love with the Chieftain of the land abundant with sea shores.
So if the Chieftain becomes bold enough (to ask for marriage to her parents or to elope) and raise like a wave of the sea he could wash away the,
flowers from the muddy backwater(i.e put end to all gossips in the village)
and hence
the paleness(love sickness) of his lover.
By uttering this poem she urges the Thalaivan to come and meet her or to take a bold step in consideration with their future.
This poem has beautiful structure which flows naturally and at the same time conveying the inner tension and emotion without any hindrance. I hope by this step by step approach I have able to clearly make you readers understand the importance of each line in the beautifully structured poem.
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Reference:
Literary conventions of akam poetry by Kamil Zvelebil
Narrinai commentary by Narayanaswami iyer
Poems on Love and war – A.K.Ramanujan
Tamil Lexicon
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Visual Delight – Explaining a poem through series of pictures – Akanaanooru 11
I have tried to explain on poem of Auvaiyar in a visual manner. Lets first see this poem from Akanaanuru.
11. பாலை
வானம் ஊர்ந்த வயங்கு ஒளி மண்டிலம்
நெருப்பு எனச் சிவந்த உருப்பு அவிர் அம் காட்டு,
இலை இல மலர்ந்த முகை இல் இலவம்
கலி கொள் ஆயம் மலிபு தொகுபு எடுத்த
அம் சுடர் நெடுங் கொடி பொற்பத் தோன்றி,
கயம் துகள் ஆகிய பயம் தபு கானம்
எம்மொடு கழிந்தனர்ஆயின், கம்மென,
வம்பு விரித்தன்ன பொங்கு மணற் கான் யாற்றுப்
படு சினை தாழ்ந்த பயில் இணர் எக்கர்,
மெய் புகுவு அன்ன கை கவர் முயக்கம்
அவரும் பெறுகுவர்மன்னே! நயவர,
நீர் வார் நிகர் மலர் கடுப்ப, ஓ மறந்து
அறு குளம் நிறைக்குந போல, அல்கலும்
அழுதல் மேவல ஆகி,
பழி தீர் கண்ணும் படுகுவமன்னே!
தலைமகன் பொருள்வயிற் பிரிந்த இடத்து, ஆற்றாளாய தலைமகள் வேறுபாடு கண்டு ஆற்றாளாய தோழிக்கு, தலைமகள், ‘ஆற்றுவல்’என்பது படச் சொல்லியது. – ஔவையார்
Akanaanooru 11
The round blazing sun
creeps in the sky,
raging as a fire
in the forest,
and the silk cotton tress
is leafless
yet in flower
without a bud,
like a long array
of red lamps
in the month of karttikai
lit happily
by bustling women,
in the fruitless forest
where the pools are dry,dusty.
If only
he’d spent the time with me,
it would go fast,
if only he’d walk swiftly with me
on the dunes
over hung with flowering boughs,
all fragrant,
where the forest stream flows now
and the sand
is laid out like a woman’s bodice,
he could have what arms desire,
loving embraces,
body entering body,
and then my guiltless eyes
that now fill
ceaselessly like barren pools
fed by secret springs
could put aside
their daily sorrow
and find some sleep.
Poet: Auvaiyar
Translated by A.K.Ramanujan
This poem spell bound me for the simple reason ‘aEttu surakai vazhkaiku uthavathu’ . IF you have read the poem re read the poem so many times, never once you can understand the visual imagery portrayed in this poem.
This could be another ‘first in the net’ kind of effort, I am trying to visually present the imagery described by the poet.
Visual Imagery:
Ilavam or Silk cotton trees are very fast growing trees. In India their habitat seems to be forest with very very high temperature.
The poet now describes a stage where ‘the silk cotton tress is leafless yet in flower without a bud’.
First we’ll see how Ilavam flower look,
இலவம்_ilavam
You can see it to be red flowers. If you see the green balls around they are the buds and also in deep back ground you can notice the tree has leaves.
So how does the ’the silk cotton tress is leafless yet in flower without a bud’ look?
here it is
http://www.banana-tree.com/catalog%20images/image343.jpg
If you notice the photo , you will notice there are no leaves and nearly no buds and only the flowers are present. This is the state explained by the poet.
Lets look at flower more closely,
http://www.rareflora.com/bombaxmalab.jpg
You will notice that the flower has dark red petals and center with bright shades of yellow and red. With slight imagination it looks like a flame in red mud container , like below
http://www.zonkerala.com/gallery/festivals/thrikarthika/karthika-vilakku-2.jpg
Just think of so many Ilavam flowers scattered around in one tree and think about the whole stretch of trees in the forest with so many Ilavam flowers on them. The poet builds an imagery that the Forest with the silk cotton flowers looked like
‘like a long array of red lamps in the month of karttikai lit happily by bustling women’.
So the poet compare this ,
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1194/1010558205_e05999a2bd.jpg?v=0
to this,
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UPzb1xVh2NU/STFQVcoOjrI/AAAAAAAAEfA/L6LoHBVU9fU/s400/lamps.jpg
And this imagery can never be realised how beautiful it is, unless and until seen by our own eyes. There is no end to the imagination of the poets of the sangam. Their intimate knowledge of nature was beautifully blended into any love poems producing some brilliant imagery. I am happy to decode one of the imagery and see it with my own eyes.
Commentry on the poem:
The Thalaivan is away in search of pride or material(on war or business) ,he has to pass through palai region which i s fruitless ,dry and arid. But if Thalaivan was with Thalaivi they could hsve enjoyed their time nesr the river bed and enjoyed the pleasures of love(and love making). If that had happened she would have stopped crying and slept for while, which she is unable to do when her lover is away.
I have noted some thing really interesting in the translation and the original poem,
observe these lines by A.K.Ramanujan,
“loving embraces,
body entering body”
body entering body is clear indication that the activity was love making. So I had a doubt, from what ever I have heard Sangam poems never exclusively contains a word which means ‘making love’. So I went through the leixcon to find the meaning of the word …
The word means embrace as well as making love. So taking the words before it
‘மெய் புகுவு அன்ன கை கவர் முயக்கம்’
is laid out like a woman’s bodice”
the orginal tamil meaning also the same
“ வம்பு விரித்தன்ன பொங்கு மணற் “
only word to be researched here is ,
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Reference:
Tamil Lexicon
Akanaanooru urai by U V Swaminathan Iyer
Poems of Love and War by A.K.Ramanujan
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