This world lives -- Ilam Peruvaluti

Guest poem submitted by Sudha Shastri

(Poem #471) This world lives This world lives because Some men do not eat alone, not even when they get the sweet ambrosia of the gods; they've no anger in them, they fear evils other men fear but never sleep over them; give their lives for honor, will not touch a gift of whole worlds if tainted; there's no faintness in their hearts and they do not strive for themselves. Because such men are, this world is. -- Ilam Peruvaluti

This is a poem from the Sangam Tamil written by a poet called Ilam Peruvaluti
(Puranuru 182 - must confess I do not know what exactly this means ) and
translated by A. K. Ramanujan.

I am unsure about what to comment on. Obviously there is adherence to metre of a
sort which the translator has tried to follow. No doubt it is all very expressly
laid down in the Tamil.

Sudha Shastri.

[thomas adds]

Ramanujan has featured on the Minstrels before: check out 'A River', at
poem #382, and 'Extended Family', at poem #434.

As several of you have pointed out, the Minstrels could do with more examples of
poetry written in languages other than English. Sadly, neither Martin nor myself
is terribly conversant with such poetry; however, we have managed to cover a
fair amount thereof, thanks to the mechanism of guest submissions.
Some of my especial favourites are:
'Banalata Sen', by Jibanananda Das, poem #446
'The Winter River', a haiku by Buson, poem #277
'A Prison Evening', by Faiz, poem #118
Fitzgerald's translation of 'The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam', two separate
extracts, poem #162 and poem #342.
'Romance Sonambulo', by Federico Garcia Lorca, poem #210
'The Midnightmouse', by Christian Morgenstern, poem #252
'Coda', by Octavio Paz, poem #442
'Madhushala', by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, poem #72

Also, sort by poet and look for 'Anon' - we've covered snatches of verse in
tongues ranging from Hebrew to Welsh to Serbian to Navajo...

The next incarnation of the website (webmaster Sitaram, are you listening?) will
(we hope) include a 'search by theme' feature; translated poetry will be one of
those themes.

thomas.

[Brittanica on Sangam Literature]

 ... the earliest writings in the Tamil language. The writings are thought to
have been produced in three cankams, or literary academies, in Madurai, India,
from the 1st to the 4th century AD. The Tolkappiyam, a book of grammar and
rhetoric, and eight anthologies (Ettuttokai) of secular poetry were compiled:
Kuruntokai, Narrinai, Akananuru, Ainkurunuru, Kalittakai, Purananuru,
Patirruppattu, and Paripatal. These secular writings are possibly unique in
early Indian literature, which is almost entirely religious. The poems are
concerned with two main topics, love and the praise of kings and their deeds.
Many of them, especially on the latter subject, display great freshness and
vigour and are singularly free from the literary conceits of much of the other
early and medieval literatures of India. Since they are almost entirely secular,
these poems are also free from the complex mythical allusions that are such an
outstanding feature of most Indian art forms. There are, nonetheless, some
instances of religious works in cankam poetry. Pattupattu ("The Ten Long Poems")
contains the earliest Indian poem of personal devotion to a god, and Paripatal
contains poems about Vishnu, Siva, and Murugan.

        -- EB

(I remember studying about Sangam poetry in the 9th grade, but this is the first
time I've actually read an example - t.)

Sonnet XVII: Love -- Pablo Neruda

Guest poem submitted by Sudha Shastri:

(Poem #422) Sonnet XVII: Love I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries hidden within itself the light of those flowers, and thanks to your love, darkly in my body lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close. -- Pablo Neruda

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

An Italian sonnet (Petrarchan form), where the 14 lines are divided as 8
(octave) + 6 (sestet). Usually this form is characterised by a 'turn' in the
thought after the octave, but here the divide seems to be rather differently
achieved. Almost (?) ironical the way the octave elaborately labours the ways of
loving ( reminds me of 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' ) and the
sestet tersely dismisses the possibility of a successful description of the
emotion.

As for theme, well, it carries echoes and echoes from mostly Renaissance poetry.
The octave in particular reminds me of Viola's description of her love in
'Twelfth Night' - the oft-quoted 'Patience on a monument' speech.

Also, I wonder if the anaphora helps.

S Shastri.

[PS:

'Anaphora' - repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive
phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic
effect <Lincoln's "we cannot dedicate--we cannot
consecrate--we                      cannot hallow--this ground" is an example>

        -- Merriam-Webster, www.m-w.com

- t.]