Poet Thamizhanban presiding over a Poetic symposium at the National convention of Tamil Nadu Foundation Inc; held at Pittsburgh.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Limeraiku Poems Of Thamizhanban
The limeraiku is a form of poetry devised by Ted Pauker, consisting of a haiku in which five of the syllables (usually the ends of the three lines plus two more) rhyme in the pattern of a limerick. He gives an examplae:
There's a vile old man
Of Japan who roars at whores:
‘Where's your bloody fan?’
-Ted Pauker
Some authors have written limeraiku in an identical or very similar format, introducing the subject with "There's ...", choosing a place-name to rhyme with (cf. the stereotyped opening for limericks "There (once) was a ... from ..."), and dividing the second line as 3+2+2 syllables:
There's a latent queer
Of Tangier who brays at gays:
‘I'm hetero, dear.’
- Tim Hopkins
There's a cut-price whore
Of Cawnpore who hails all males:
‘Bed, Mattress - or Floor?’
- Pascoe Polglaze
There's a man at Crewe
station who buggers muggers
so well there's a queue.
- E. O. Parrott
Others have varied the form, changing the position within the lines of the five rhyming syllables, abandoning place-names as a source of rhymes, even forsaking the seemingly all-pervasive sexual humour in favour of historical or political themes:
John Keats rose at dawn,
Still forlorn, too chaste to taste
The amorous Brawne.
- Nick Enright
A limeraiku
needs two rhymes (used five times)
plus wit (which I blew).
- Anitra Freeman
(References:
* E. O. Parrott, The Penguin Book of Limericks, Penguin Books 1983
* A. Davie, The Limeraiku, an introduction, http://www.nospine.net/jellyfish/002_11.asp
* A. Freeman, Spontaneous Exercise: rhyme vs. rhythm, http://www.anitraweb.org/kalliope/limeraiku.html
Poet Thamizhanban,a prominent Tamil poet ,who is still ruling the literary world in Tamilnadu,by his supreme poetic skills,has brought out a volume of Limeraiku poems ,the first of its kind,in Tamil.
Instead of five rhymes,he prefers two rhymes,which appear in the first and third lines.
His thought-provoking poems are always a challenge to the translators.
As an ardent admirer and constant reader of his poems I ventured to translate some of the poems from the volume titled"Cleopatras of Chennimalai".Chennimalai is the native place of Thamizhanban.
Translations need not be craetive treasons,always.
I have done my best in transfering the sense of the poems.
Our beloved poet Thamizhanban,uses rhymes twice in every poem,in the first and third lines.
The linguistic and cultural barriers never allow anybody to present the original form of a poem in its source language after translating in the target language.
Hope you may enjoy my translations.
Monotanous life in forest
Deer and Rabbit wanted rest and haunted
In children's songs, they found a place,the best!
The wind lost its wings
Took rest In the bird's nest,swinging,
It stayed a while,puzzling?
A bird lost its life;
The heights it reached,while alive,
Wept with unending tears.
Fly away with birds
But forget that you are a man.
You don't need wings like birds.
'Bernard never recieved any bribery'
To pronounce such a witness
John recieved a bribery.
Smoke leads to death
Drinking also kills us
Selling them gives us wealth.
© ilakkuvanar., all rights reserved.
There's a vile old man
Of Japan who roars at whores:
‘Where's your bloody fan?’
-Ted Pauker
Some authors have written limeraiku in an identical or very similar format, introducing the subject with "There's ...", choosing a place-name to rhyme with (cf. the stereotyped opening for limericks "There (once) was a ... from ..."), and dividing the second line as 3+2+2 syllables:
There's a latent queer
Of Tangier who brays at gays:
‘I'm hetero, dear.’
- Tim Hopkins
There's a cut-price whore
Of Cawnpore who hails all males:
‘Bed, Mattress - or Floor?’
- Pascoe Polglaze
There's a man at Crewe
station who buggers muggers
so well there's a queue.
- E. O. Parrott
Others have varied the form, changing the position within the lines of the five rhyming syllables, abandoning place-names as a source of rhymes, even forsaking the seemingly all-pervasive sexual humour in favour of historical or political themes:
John Keats rose at dawn,
Still forlorn, too chaste to taste
The amorous Brawne.
- Nick Enright
A limeraiku
needs two rhymes (used five times)
plus wit (which I blew).
- Anitra Freeman
(References:
* E. O. Parrott, The Penguin Book of Limericks, Penguin Books 1983
* A. Davie, The Limeraiku, an introduction, http://www.nospine.net/jellyfish/002_11.asp
* A. Freeman, Spontaneous Exercise: rhyme vs. rhythm, http://www.anitraweb.org/kalliope/limeraiku.html
Poet Thamizhanban,a prominent Tamil poet ,who is still ruling the literary world in Tamilnadu,by his supreme poetic skills,has brought out a volume of Limeraiku poems ,the first of its kind,in Tamil.
Instead of five rhymes,he prefers two rhymes,which appear in the first and third lines.
His thought-provoking poems are always a challenge to the translators.
As an ardent admirer and constant reader of his poems I ventured to translate some of the poems from the volume titled"Cleopatras of Chennimalai".Chennimalai is the native place of Thamizhanban.
Translations need not be craetive treasons,always.
I have done my best in transfering the sense of the poems.
Our beloved poet Thamizhanban,uses rhymes twice in every poem,in the first and third lines.
The linguistic and cultural barriers never allow anybody to present the original form of a poem in its source language after translating in the target language.
Hope you may enjoy my translations.
Monotanous life in forest
Deer and Rabbit wanted rest and haunted
In children's songs, they found a place,the best!
The wind lost its wings
Took rest In the bird's nest,swinging,
It stayed a while,puzzling?
A bird lost its life;
The heights it reached,while alive,
Wept with unending tears.
Fly away with birds
But forget that you are a man.
You don't need wings like birds.
'Bernard never recieved any bribery'
To pronounce such a witness
John recieved a bribery.
Smoke leads to death
Drinking also kills us
Selling them gives us wealth.
© ilakkuvanar., all rights reserved.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Senryu Poems of Thamizhanban
Senryu Poems of Thamizhanban
Now you can have a glance of some Senryu poems written by Thamizhanban(translated by me).
The satire and sarcasm about the society by the poet are reflected through powerful images and provoking metaphors.
The defeat is assured
But only
The constituency needs be finalized
One hundred Mirrors
He who had looked through these
Had just gone to buy a new face.
After 3 years he received
First premium of pension
to finance his funeral rites.
God asked a boon from
His devotees;
'Do not drag me into politics'
Satan started a party
The first member..
God!
Who taught you?
Blow to the student
Pain to the teacher
The song came
Fully afraid
From the singer’s throat.
The Leader
On a tour abroad
Peace and pleasure in inland.
Security beefed up
In police station
Rifles stolen.
Filed his nomination
With a procession of a thousand persons
Secured fifty votes!
Where is the answer?
Not only the students
But also the questions were unable to find it.
The reader and librarian
Had a sound sleep
But the books never slept.
The Will wrote down by the father
Everybody has equal share-
In my death!
He slept forgetting to take
The medicine
Which never forgot him.
The answers asked a question
‘Dear student
Will you get success?’
Party members boycotted the conference
Dissatisfied with-
The Food arrangements.
Borrowed smile-
How long will be there
In the lips?
He who asked for a place in the boat
Was keeping a storm
In his pocket!
The Minister who was sacked
Gave a press release
‘Hereafter I will work for our country’s welfare.’
The operation was a success
But the patient was a different person
Who did not need the operation.
The fish from the fish tank
While dropped at the pond
Swam to a distance of the fish tank.
Thousands of words in hand
But unable to write a Poem
Dictionary!
The wife while giving a send off
Told with tears:
Please do not forget to send money
Now you can have a glance of some Senryu poems written by Thamizhanban(translated by me).
The satire and sarcasm about the society by the poet are reflected through powerful images and provoking metaphors.
The defeat is assured
But only
The constituency needs be finalized
One hundred Mirrors
He who had looked through these
Had just gone to buy a new face.
After 3 years he received
First premium of pension
to finance his funeral rites.
God asked a boon from
His devotees;
'Do not drag me into politics'
Satan started a party
The first member..
God!
Who taught you?
Blow to the student
Pain to the teacher
The song came
Fully afraid
From the singer’s throat.
The Leader
On a tour abroad
Peace and pleasure in inland.
Security beefed up
In police station
Rifles stolen.
Filed his nomination
With a procession of a thousand persons
Secured fifty votes!
Where is the answer?
Not only the students
But also the questions were unable to find it.
The reader and librarian
Had a sound sleep
But the books never slept.
The Will wrote down by the father
Everybody has equal share-
In my death!
He slept forgetting to take
The medicine
Which never forgot him.
The answers asked a question
‘Dear student
Will you get success?’
Party members boycotted the conference
Dissatisfied with-
The Food arrangements.
Borrowed smile-
How long will be there
In the lips?
He who asked for a place in the boat
Was keeping a storm
In his pocket!
The Minister who was sacked
Gave a press release
‘Hereafter I will work for our country’s welfare.’
The operation was a success
But the patient was a different person
Who did not need the operation.
The fish from the fish tank
While dropped at the pond
Swam to a distance of the fish tank.
Thousands of words in hand
But unable to write a Poem
Dictionary!
The wife while giving a send off
Told with tears:
Please do not forget to send money
Senryu Poems in Tamil
.
"A TRUCKLOAD OF SENRYU"----
Senryu Poems in Tamil by Thamizhanban
I.Introduction to Senryu:
Senryu is a Japanese poem structurally similar to the haiku but primarily concerned with human nature. It does not rhyme and takes the form of three lines (line 1 has 5 syllables, line 2 has 7 syllables and line 3 has 5 syllables).
There are multi various definitions of senryu.Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines sen·ryu as " a 3-line unrhymed Japanese poem structurally similar to haiku but treating human nature usually in an ironic or satiric vein."
In ‘Modern Haiku E-Journal’ Hiroaki Sato gives the following definition:
"Unlike the haiku which normally deals with natural or seasonal phenomena, the senryû is expected to deal with matters of human and social nature, often in a playful, satirical, or knowing manner.
The haiku carries a seasonal reference; the senryû does not have to. The distinction between the two genres has been tenuous, however, from early on.
In recent years the blurring of the differences has become such that Ônishi Yasuyo has said, "If someone asks me how senryû differ from haiku, I tell the inquirer that the only distinction that can be made is by author’s name"—that is, if the author is known to write haiku, the pieces he or she writes are haiku; if the author is known to write senryû, the pieces she or he writes are senryû."
In’Aha Poetry’ Jane Reichhold presents a clear explanation:
"Senryu in Japanese means "River Willow." It is the pen name of the most famous poet who conducted maekuzuki (linking contests) has been given to this genre in his dubious honor. Because haiku and senryu are written much alike, often on the same subjects and usually by the same authors, great controversies have ensued over which is what. For a time, in America, senryu were considered to be faulty haiku. Actually, if one must differentiate, the senryu form is satiric, concerned with poking fun at human behavior as opposed to the profound, sublime world of nature where haiku shine.
"A good senryu is not merely a knee-slapper, though it can be that. It's not just a showcase for puns or wit, although a good senryu can include cleverness or humour as part of a more resonant purpose. Rather, a senryu is a poem that wakes us up in a small way with its distilled, one-breath moment of heightened awareness focusing on human nature. It's a window into the human condition, freshly squeegeed. Senryu are, ultimately, poems of human self-awareness. They don't have to be funny, but often it is good to laugh at ourselves through senryu." is the Definition by Michael Dylan Welch.
"The difference between a comic haikai and a senryû are hard to define, but we might say that in general, haikai poetry deals with nature and senryû with human beings. This choice of subject matter is reflected by the insistence on seasonal words (kigo) in haikai poetry, but not in senryû. Haikai, at its best, tries to capture in seventeen syllables both the eternal and the momentary, but senryû is content with a single sharp observation. The importance of the "cutting words" (kireji) in haikai stemmed largely from the division they established between the two elements they contained, but a senryû needed no cutting words, since only one element was present. The language of senryû is generally that of the common people, and is sometimes even vulgar, but haikai, despite its occasional daring uses of such words, was essentially restricted to the vocabulary of the man of taste. Parts of speech that were considered inconclusive in a haikai often ended a senryû, as if to signify it was flash of wit rather than a rounded-off poem."
(Definition and Comments by Donald Keene, "World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600-1867", Holt, Rinehart, Winston, p. 527.)
II.Generic Migration:
Just like races,literary genres also migrate from one place to another and the Japanese Haiku,Senryu and Limeraiku have migrated to almost all other languages-eastern andf western-and have spread successfully.
III.Senryu in Tamil:
Thamizhanban’s compilation of Senryu poems in Tamil titled"A Truckload of Senryu" is a pioneer attempt to give senryu poems in Tamil and now there are many followers in this trend.
"A TRUCKLOAD OF SENRYU"----
Senryu Poems in Tamil by Thamizhanban
I.Introduction to Senryu:
Senryu is a Japanese poem structurally similar to the haiku but primarily concerned with human nature. It does not rhyme and takes the form of three lines (line 1 has 5 syllables, line 2 has 7 syllables and line 3 has 5 syllables).
There are multi various definitions of senryu.Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines sen·ryu as " a 3-line unrhymed Japanese poem structurally similar to haiku but treating human nature usually in an ironic or satiric vein."
In ‘Modern Haiku E-Journal’ Hiroaki Sato gives the following definition:
"Unlike the haiku which normally deals with natural or seasonal phenomena, the senryû is expected to deal with matters of human and social nature, often in a playful, satirical, or knowing manner.
The haiku carries a seasonal reference; the senryû does not have to. The distinction between the two genres has been tenuous, however, from early on.
In recent years the blurring of the differences has become such that Ônishi Yasuyo has said, "If someone asks me how senryû differ from haiku, I tell the inquirer that the only distinction that can be made is by author’s name"—that is, if the author is known to write haiku, the pieces he or she writes are haiku; if the author is known to write senryû, the pieces she or he writes are senryû."
In’Aha Poetry’ Jane Reichhold presents a clear explanation:
"Senryu in Japanese means "River Willow." It is the pen name of the most famous poet who conducted maekuzuki (linking contests) has been given to this genre in his dubious honor. Because haiku and senryu are written much alike, often on the same subjects and usually by the same authors, great controversies have ensued over which is what. For a time, in America, senryu were considered to be faulty haiku. Actually, if one must differentiate, the senryu form is satiric, concerned with poking fun at human behavior as opposed to the profound, sublime world of nature where haiku shine.
"A good senryu is not merely a knee-slapper, though it can be that. It's not just a showcase for puns or wit, although a good senryu can include cleverness or humour as part of a more resonant purpose. Rather, a senryu is a poem that wakes us up in a small way with its distilled, one-breath moment of heightened awareness focusing on human nature. It's a window into the human condition, freshly squeegeed. Senryu are, ultimately, poems of human self-awareness. They don't have to be funny, but often it is good to laugh at ourselves through senryu." is the Definition by Michael Dylan Welch.
"The difference between a comic haikai and a senryû are hard to define, but we might say that in general, haikai poetry deals with nature and senryû with human beings. This choice of subject matter is reflected by the insistence on seasonal words (kigo) in haikai poetry, but not in senryû. Haikai, at its best, tries to capture in seventeen syllables both the eternal and the momentary, but senryû is content with a single sharp observation. The importance of the "cutting words" (kireji) in haikai stemmed largely from the division they established between the two elements they contained, but a senryû needed no cutting words, since only one element was present. The language of senryû is generally that of the common people, and is sometimes even vulgar, but haikai, despite its occasional daring uses of such words, was essentially restricted to the vocabulary of the man of taste. Parts of speech that were considered inconclusive in a haikai often ended a senryû, as if to signify it was flash of wit rather than a rounded-off poem."
(Definition and Comments by Donald Keene, "World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600-1867", Holt, Rinehart, Winston, p. 527.)
II.Generic Migration:
Just like races,literary genres also migrate from one place to another and the Japanese Haiku,Senryu and Limeraiku have migrated to almost all other languages-eastern andf western-and have spread successfully.
III.Senryu in Tamil:
Thamizhanban’s compilation of Senryu poems in Tamil titled"A Truckload of Senryu" is a pioneer attempt to give senryu poems in Tamil and now there are many followers in this trend.
Haiku Poems of Thamizhanban
Haiku Poems of Thamizhanban
Thamizhanban is a prominent poet of Tamilnadu,who has contributed volumes of Modern and modernist poems in Tamil and celebrated by millions of Tamil readers throughout the world.
He has produced meaningful and thought-provoking Haikus and they can be seen in the volume titled"Crescents of Sun"(Sooriyap Piraikal).
I have translated some Haikus and do hope it may be of interest to you also.
Satire
The Dawn's feet bound in chain
The Moon is varnishing
The Jail's iron bars.
The writings invited for
A Royal dinner-
The writer's soul hanging in the pen-nib.
I just dug a fountain in my mind-
Thousand people rushed
To sit and drink.
Self-pity
I was lying as a corpse
Felt immense pleasure
Never intended to stand again.
Metaphysics
Death--
The torch of the soul
In the journey of life.
Personality-builder
To the person who fell down ten times
Mother Earth kissed and told:
Already you have stood erect nine times!
Again andf again
The moonlight fell on it-
The rock blossomed into a flower!
Realism
Darkness remained in the hands
Which pushed out
The night.
Poetry --
Possesses thousand hands
Its begging bowl has a lot of holes!
Irony
The sky is beautiful!
The Earth is also beautiful!
I have a loaf of bread in my hand.
The fishes in the glass tanks
Dreaming much about
Rubbing shoulders with oceans.
Thamizhanban is a prominent poet of Tamilnadu,who has contributed volumes of Modern and modernist poems in Tamil and celebrated by millions of Tamil readers throughout the world.
He has produced meaningful and thought-provoking Haikus and they can be seen in the volume titled"Crescents of Sun"(Sooriyap Piraikal).
I have translated some Haikus and do hope it may be of interest to you also.
Satire
The Dawn's feet bound in chain
The Moon is varnishing
The Jail's iron bars.
The writings invited for
A Royal dinner-
The writer's soul hanging in the pen-nib.
I just dug a fountain in my mind-
Thousand people rushed
To sit and drink.
Self-pity
I was lying as a corpse
Felt immense pleasure
Never intended to stand again.
Metaphysics
Death--
The torch of the soul
In the journey of life.
Personality-builder
To the person who fell down ten times
Mother Earth kissed and told:
Already you have stood erect nine times!
Again andf again
The moonlight fell on it-
The rock blossomed into a flower!
Realism
Darkness remained in the hands
Which pushed out
The night.
Poetry --
Possesses thousand hands
Its begging bowl has a lot of holes!
Irony
The sky is beautiful!
The Earth is also beautiful!
I have a loaf of bread in my hand.
The fishes in the glass tanks
Dreaming much about
Rubbing shoulders with oceans.
Poem about Friendship
THAMIZHANBAN’S POEM ABOUT FRIENDSHIP
Today (5th August) is celebrated as Friendship Day throughout the world.
Friendship can not be restricted to a single day good friendship will always be actively interacting 365 days and Twenty-four hours. We are living in a consumerist age. Nobody finds time to maintain friendship because of the busy metro life.Thamizhanban points out this in one of his poems.
Hi Sethu!
Where were you all these days?
Oh! Route number 24 is coming
Let us see later!
Here while seeing a bosom friend, the man also happens to notice the arrival of a city bus.
Now there comes a dilemma in his mind.
Now he has got an opportunity to meet his old friend. He has also got another rare opportunity to travel in the city bus, which is not easily available.
What to do?
He is weighing the two opportunities now in his mind.
Now he takes a decision.
He has decided to forego the chance of spending some time with his bosom friend.
He wishes to catch hod of the city bus and ignore the meeting of an old friend.
This mini poem portrays the dilemma that occurred and the decision that has been taken.
The friendship is not given the due respect.
Why the man decides to ignore the friendship?
In metro life non-availability of the city buses is also a hazard.
Here the person has got the proper city bus.
He decides to avoid the friend to get the city bus.
The stressful metro life, distractions in family life make everybody to indulge in the busy routine without minding to cherish the values.
By this poem the poet advises us to cherish values and make the life a more livelier one.
Today (5th August) is celebrated as Friendship Day throughout the world.
Friendship can not be restricted to a single day good friendship will always be actively interacting 365 days and Twenty-four hours. We are living in a consumerist age. Nobody finds time to maintain friendship because of the busy metro life.Thamizhanban points out this in one of his poems.
Hi Sethu!
Where were you all these days?
Oh! Route number 24 is coming
Let us see later!
Here while seeing a bosom friend, the man also happens to notice the arrival of a city bus.
Now there comes a dilemma in his mind.
Now he has got an opportunity to meet his old friend. He has also got another rare opportunity to travel in the city bus, which is not easily available.
What to do?
He is weighing the two opportunities now in his mind.
Now he takes a decision.
He has decided to forego the chance of spending some time with his bosom friend.
He wishes to catch hod of the city bus and ignore the meeting of an old friend.
This mini poem portrays the dilemma that occurred and the decision that has been taken.
The friendship is not given the due respect.
Why the man decides to ignore the friendship?
In metro life non-availability of the city buses is also a hazard.
Here the person has got the proper city bus.
He decides to avoid the friend to get the city bus.
The stressful metro life, distractions in family life make everybody to indulge in the busy routine without minding to cherish the values.
By this poem the poet advises us to cherish values and make the life a more livelier one.
A couple of Poems to Illustrate Thamizhanban's Poetic Techniques
A Couple of Poems to illustarate Thamizhamban’s poetic techniques
Thamizhanban uses innovative techniques to deliver his original thoughts for the benefit of the world.His poems reveal his international outlook, progressive thinking and socialist perspective.
In the following poem he makes a severe criticism of the human mind
Which always try to hide everything.
Human mind which wants to hide everything
The Universe
Which is always open
Never shuts its door
For probing quests.
The Wind
Never refuses
To unlock
It’s deep mind
To the flowers.
The waves
Expose the ocean’s secrets
Even after it is blocked many times.
The earth
Advertises loudly
the whereabouts of
the seed
which goes underground.
Even though
The volcano
Never opens its mouth
We are able to know the turmoil
Of its boiling mind
Explicitly.
Man alone possesses
The mind which is
Hiding all things
And every thing
And still trying to
Bury everything deep.
His views on August 15 (Independence Day of India)celebrations will give a clear understanding of his social perspective.
LONG LIVE OUR DEAR BHARAT.
I swear on
The Sun.
The country has developed
After 1947.
The India of our rulers
Has developed.
The India of Tata and Birla
Has developed.
India of the common man
Has not seen any advancement or development.
In the decorated carts
For Independence day &Republic day celebration
Has attained progress.
August 15 is
Stinking in the pavements of
The towns and slums.
Our people remain as corpses
Slaughtered by diseases and disasters,
thrown out by unemployment
And poverty.
In our country Industry
Has surely grown
By eating the livers of
The laborers.
Agriculture has grown
Sucking the blood.of agriculture-laborers.
after storing all these
whither goes Bharat devi?*
*(Bharat Devi is the personification of India as a Goddess)
She goes to the palaces of
Swadesi and alien capitalists
Who want to bite and pierce
Her breasts!
To The confidential rooms of political brokers
who were introduced by them.
To the kitchens of
Beaurocrats who are waiting there
To roll up or wide open the beds
The manthras
Which roarded
For the independence day celebrations
Are affected by paralysis
The nervous systems
Which gave a call against
Imperialism.
Are in deep sleep.
The fiery and ferocious
Idealists necks are under
The grip of
Opportunism.
Hereafter
Please do not celebrate
August15
As another ritual
Or annual death anniversary.
Let us find a new cheerful day
And name it as "August 15."
The above poem vehemently condemns of the prevailing social evils and try to give a clear understanding of our defects.
Thamizhanban strives to make an awareness in the minds of readers and his poems surely give a helping hand to him in his task.
Thamizhanban uses innovative techniques to deliver his original thoughts for the benefit of the world.His poems reveal his international outlook, progressive thinking and socialist perspective.
In the following poem he makes a severe criticism of the human mind
Which always try to hide everything.
Human mind which wants to hide everything
The Universe
Which is always open
Never shuts its door
For probing quests.
The Wind
Never refuses
To unlock
It’s deep mind
To the flowers.
The waves
Expose the ocean’s secrets
Even after it is blocked many times.
The earth
Advertises loudly
the whereabouts of
the seed
which goes underground.
Even though
The volcano
Never opens its mouth
We are able to know the turmoil
Of its boiling mind
Explicitly.
Man alone possesses
The mind which is
Hiding all things
And every thing
And still trying to
Bury everything deep.
His views on August 15 (Independence Day of India)celebrations will give a clear understanding of his social perspective.
LONG LIVE OUR DEAR BHARAT.
I swear on
The Sun.
The country has developed
After 1947.
The India of our rulers
Has developed.
The India of Tata and Birla
Has developed.
India of the common man
Has not seen any advancement or development.
In the decorated carts
For Independence day &Republic day celebration
Has attained progress.
August 15 is
Stinking in the pavements of
The towns and slums.
Our people remain as corpses
Slaughtered by diseases and disasters,
thrown out by unemployment
And poverty.
In our country Industry
Has surely grown
By eating the livers of
The laborers.
Agriculture has grown
Sucking the blood.of agriculture-laborers.
after storing all these
whither goes Bharat devi?*
*(Bharat Devi is the personification of India as a Goddess)
She goes to the palaces of
Swadesi and alien capitalists
Who want to bite and pierce
Her breasts!
To The confidential rooms of political brokers
who were introduced by them.
To the kitchens of
Beaurocrats who are waiting there
To roll up or wide open the beds
The manthras
Which roarded
For the independence day celebrations
Are affected by paralysis
The nervous systems
Which gave a call against
Imperialism.
Are in deep sleep.
The fiery and ferocious
Idealists necks are under
The grip of
Opportunism.
Hereafter
Please do not celebrate
August15
As another ritual
Or annual death anniversary.
Let us find a new cheerful day
And name it as "August 15."
The above poem vehemently condemns of the prevailing social evils and try to give a clear understanding of our defects.
Thamizhanban strives to make an awareness in the minds of readers and his poems surely give a helping hand to him in his task.
Thamizhanban's Abstract Poem-An Interpretation by the Blogger
THAMIZHANBAN’S ABSTRACT POEM-
AN INTERPRETATION BY THE BLOGGER
Here we can see stanza by stanza and try to understand the meaning
A boat is arriving
Swimming across
the waves of
voiceless darkness
‘Boat’ stands as a symbol for the poet or his poem. The poet sees himself emerging to serve the oppressed people of the society.’Darkness’ is a symbol for poverty and ignorance. The ignorant poor lack a voice to register their protests for the trials and tribulations carried over by the ruling minority. The poet/his poem is arriving to serve them at this juncture.
A boat is arriving
To make much excitement
To the penance
carried out
by the mind of the mother earth
The mind of the mother earth is doing a penance to bring a golden era of equality among the mankind. It is a tough penance, tougher than all the previous penances. But here comes the poet/the poem, which is capable of granting the request of the mother earth.
during the night
and shaped
out of the black
taken from
the women’s eyes
in the acute darkness
which pervaded
sky-high
‘Night’ means the darker days of the history. ’Black’ is a symbol of agony and grief. The poet/his poem is arriving at a period while the women are perpetrated by the male domination.
is the boat
carrying the suitable
answer-bridegrooms
to put marriage garlands
to the bride-questions
which have attained puberty?
The poet/his poem should carry suitable solutions for the challenges, which are prevalent in the society, which make the task of attaining a socialist pattern of society a tougher one.
Is the boat
coming in the destined night
carrying sunlight which will
melt out
the frozen song
lying in the
strings of
the soul-lyre?
The spirit of humanism is the’ frozen song’. Is the poet/his poem capable of rejuvenating the spirit of humanism which is absent in our society?
Is there a detailed
Notes
Coming
For the intriguing
Stories of disgust
Hatched up in the eggs
Laid by the birds called
‘eyebrows.’
‘Eyebrows’ symbolize the theoreticians, who are always forming theories with a negative approach predicting only nihilism and anarchy as the immediate ends. The poet/ his poem is carrying a detailed manifesto for the working class to achieve a welfare society.
Does there arrive
The youthful sunlight of
A cool flower
Capable of
Alleviating the worries of
The dusky soul
Affected by the eclipse
In the margins of the lips?
‘The lips’ here symbolize the media and the eclipse is the silence prevalent in the media about the sorrows and miseries of the downtrodden. The ‘dusky soul’ or the man in the street is worried about the absence of their problems and issues not portrayed by the media. The poet/his poem is capable of representing the worries of the weaker section of the society.
Is a seed of whip
Coming
For the haphazard views
Which neglect
the rights of the flesh
Indulging in
extreme appreciation of
the shining skin?
The ‘flesh’ (of the fruit) represents the working class and the ‘skin’ represents the creamy layer of the society. Till now only the creamy layer of the society was spoken about neglecting the working class. The haphazard views will be thrown out by the poet/his poem.
Does the boat
Carry any medicine
To the quivering soul
Wounded by the
hands of the clock?
‘Hands of the clock’ means time. There are many wounds by the perpetration carried on the working class by many rulers in the past periods. The scars are there which tell the sad stories. Now the poet/his poem carries a suitable medicine to heal their wounds.
By the waves of saffron
The oppressed class
Is hurt.
Is there any
Panacea
Coming for the
Renaissance of them?
‘Saffron’ is a symbol of religious fundamentalism. All religions have done a great deal of harm and injury to the toiling section of society, as revealed by the history. The poet/his poem is carrying a panacea-that is socialism-for their health.
Has the boat, made of Bodhi tree,
neglected instructions
And is
Carrying weapons for a war?
The poet, who is a follower of Buddha, now feels sorry to neglect the kind and mild way of ‘Love’ and take the rebellious path of revolution. Fierce and forceful struggle alone is capable of bringing a change in the society.
AN INTERPRETATION BY THE BLOGGER
Here we can see stanza by stanza and try to understand the meaning
A boat is arriving
Swimming across
the waves of
voiceless darkness
‘Boat’ stands as a symbol for the poet or his poem. The poet sees himself emerging to serve the oppressed people of the society.’Darkness’ is a symbol for poverty and ignorance. The ignorant poor lack a voice to register their protests for the trials and tribulations carried over by the ruling minority. The poet/his poem is arriving to serve them at this juncture.
A boat is arriving
To make much excitement
To the penance
carried out
by the mind of the mother earth
The mind of the mother earth is doing a penance to bring a golden era of equality among the mankind. It is a tough penance, tougher than all the previous penances. But here comes the poet/the poem, which is capable of granting the request of the mother earth.
during the night
and shaped
out of the black
taken from
the women’s eyes
in the acute darkness
which pervaded
sky-high
‘Night’ means the darker days of the history. ’Black’ is a symbol of agony and grief. The poet/his poem is arriving at a period while the women are perpetrated by the male domination.
is the boat
carrying the suitable
answer-bridegrooms
to put marriage garlands
to the bride-questions
which have attained puberty?
The poet/his poem should carry suitable solutions for the challenges, which are prevalent in the society, which make the task of attaining a socialist pattern of society a tougher one.
Is the boat
coming in the destined night
carrying sunlight which will
melt out
the frozen song
lying in the
strings of
the soul-lyre?
The spirit of humanism is the’ frozen song’. Is the poet/his poem capable of rejuvenating the spirit of humanism which is absent in our society?
Is there a detailed
Notes
Coming
For the intriguing
Stories of disgust
Hatched up in the eggs
Laid by the birds called
‘eyebrows.’
‘Eyebrows’ symbolize the theoreticians, who are always forming theories with a negative approach predicting only nihilism and anarchy as the immediate ends. The poet/ his poem is carrying a detailed manifesto for the working class to achieve a welfare society.
Does there arrive
The youthful sunlight of
A cool flower
Capable of
Alleviating the worries of
The dusky soul
Affected by the eclipse
In the margins of the lips?
‘The lips’ here symbolize the media and the eclipse is the silence prevalent in the media about the sorrows and miseries of the downtrodden. The ‘dusky soul’ or the man in the street is worried about the absence of their problems and issues not portrayed by the media. The poet/his poem is capable of representing the worries of the weaker section of the society.
Is a seed of whip
Coming
For the haphazard views
Which neglect
the rights of the flesh
Indulging in
extreme appreciation of
the shining skin?
The ‘flesh’ (of the fruit) represents the working class and the ‘skin’ represents the creamy layer of the society. Till now only the creamy layer of the society was spoken about neglecting the working class. The haphazard views will be thrown out by the poet/his poem.
Does the boat
Carry any medicine
To the quivering soul
Wounded by the
hands of the clock?
‘Hands of the clock’ means time. There are many wounds by the perpetration carried on the working class by many rulers in the past periods. The scars are there which tell the sad stories. Now the poet/his poem carries a suitable medicine to heal their wounds.
By the waves of saffron
The oppressed class
Is hurt.
Is there any
Panacea
Coming for the
Renaissance of them?
‘Saffron’ is a symbol of religious fundamentalism. All religions have done a great deal of harm and injury to the toiling section of society, as revealed by the history. The poet/his poem is carrying a panacea-that is socialism-for their health.
Has the boat, made of Bodhi tree,
neglected instructions
And is
Carrying weapons for a war?
The poet, who is a follower of Buddha, now feels sorry to neglect the kind and mild way of ‘Love’ and take the rebellious path of revolution. Fierce and forceful struggle alone is capable of bringing a change in the society.
Abstract Painting-I
Abstract Painting-II
Abstract Painting-III
ABSTRACT PAINTING AND ABSTRACT POEM
Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict
objects in the natural world,but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way;In the very early 20th century,the term was more often used to describe art,such as cubist and Futurist art, that depicts real forms in a simplified or rather reduced way-keeping only an allusion of the original natural subject.
Such paintings were often claimed to capture something of the depicted objects' immutable intrinsic qualities rather than its external appearance. The more precise terms, "non-figurative art," "non-objective art," and "non-representational art" avoid any possible ambiguity.
Just for example you can see the abstract paintings,shown above, to get an idea.
Just to get an idea about abstract poetry we can see the book" Ezra Pound: The Value of Incoherence" by M.L. Harvey, Ph.D..
While explaining Pound’s abstract poetry Harvey says:
"Consider, though, the contribution Ezra Pound made to the development of modern abstract poetry in English. An abstract poem requires loose ends. Loose ends are what keep the sometimes oppressive linearity of logical structure at bay. A loose end is a discontinuity--". . .of this/A few words, an and yet, and yet, and yet" (Stevens). In our daily lives, which are filled with loose ends, we attempt to make sense of more than we can make sense of. Ultimately, we assume that everything makes sense or will make sense. We forget the dream images that fade into nonsensicality.
We overlook the non sequitur in conversation. No matter that the current paradoxical discussions of quantum mechanics urge us to believe that light has knowledge or that someday free will and determinism will coexist simultaneously in the same syllogism--we proceed as best we can to make sense of everything using our own current tools for thinking to create clear, rational linearity. And before abstract art came into being, these habits of ours, more or less, reigned in the art world.
Looking back over the history of English poetry, let us say why not let symbol and metaphor run the whole show--if only to see what happens? For metaphor and symbol to run the whole show, you have to invent loose ends and not tie them up; you have to leave them where they are--as Ezra Pound did."
What can be said about the work of Ezra Pound himself, apart from its contribution to the development of modern, abstract English poetry? Almost immediately, we discover a loose end. In spite of the fact that he is probably the first modern, iconoclastic, abstract English-language poet, Ezra Pound's work celebrates the inestimable value of great, ancient art. His prose holds up the ancients for our admiration. The Cantos is stocked with allusions to and quotes from ancient and early modern cultures. Along with his love of great, ancient art, his works exhibit a disenchantment with the twentieth-century artist and scholar and with society at large. The ABC of Reading is full of examples. His disgust is evident in his poetry as well as his prose. The effect of his best passages is that their excellence as modern poetry ironically emphasizes the grandeur of the ancient. But this is only an historical accident. Do the ancient works seem better than our own? We know how good the old works are because two thousand years of readers testify to their greatness. The closer to the present we look, the less confident we are of our judgments until, for a certain type of mind, the present viewed in all its detail appears shabby indeed.
The explanation for Pound’s poetry also holds good for Thamizhanban.
How far it is suitable and how to comprehend the abstract poem of Thamizhanban.? Let us see in the next post.
Just for example you can see the abstract paintings,shown above, to get an idea.
Just to get an idea about abstract poetry we can see the book" Ezra Pound: The Value of Incoherence" by M.L. Harvey, Ph.D..
While explaining Pound’s abstract poetry Harvey says:
"Consider, though, the contribution Ezra Pound made to the development of modern abstract poetry in English. An abstract poem requires loose ends. Loose ends are what keep the sometimes oppressive linearity of logical structure at bay. A loose end is a discontinuity--". . .of this/A few words, an and yet, and yet, and yet" (Stevens). In our daily lives, which are filled with loose ends, we attempt to make sense of more than we can make sense of. Ultimately, we assume that everything makes sense or will make sense. We forget the dream images that fade into nonsensicality.
We overlook the non sequitur in conversation. No matter that the current paradoxical discussions of quantum mechanics urge us to believe that light has knowledge or that someday free will and determinism will coexist simultaneously in the same syllogism--we proceed as best we can to make sense of everything using our own current tools for thinking to create clear, rational linearity. And before abstract art came into being, these habits of ours, more or less, reigned in the art world.
Looking back over the history of English poetry, let us say why not let symbol and metaphor run the whole show--if only to see what happens? For metaphor and symbol to run the whole show, you have to invent loose ends and not tie them up; you have to leave them where they are--as Ezra Pound did."
What can be said about the work of Ezra Pound himself, apart from its contribution to the development of modern, abstract English poetry? Almost immediately, we discover a loose end. In spite of the fact that he is probably the first modern, iconoclastic, abstract English-language poet, Ezra Pound's work celebrates the inestimable value of great, ancient art. His prose holds up the ancients for our admiration. The Cantos is stocked with allusions to and quotes from ancient and early modern cultures. Along with his love of great, ancient art, his works exhibit a disenchantment with the twentieth-century artist and scholar and with society at large. The ABC of Reading is full of examples. His disgust is evident in his poetry as well as his prose. The effect of his best passages is that their excellence as modern poetry ironically emphasizes the grandeur of the ancient. But this is only an historical accident. Do the ancient works seem better than our own? We know how good the old works are because two thousand years of readers testify to their greatness. The closer to the present we look, the less confident we are of our judgments until, for a certain type of mind, the present viewed in all its detail appears shabby indeed.
The explanation for Pound’s poetry also holds good for Thamizhanban.
How far it is suitable and how to comprehend the abstract poem of Thamizhanban.? Let us see in the next post.
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