shepherds out on the watch with their flocks deck themselves with the white flowers.¹⁹

Another tree that hangs out its golden garlands is the konṛai. When it is in bloom, the entire tree presents an aspect of long bunches of golden garlands of flowers hanging from the branches. The leaves, in fact, are hardly noticeable when the tree is in bloom. The flowers are said to resemble jewellery worn by women and children. Small pits near the konṛai trees where the wind gathers these golden flowers are said to resemble the caskets in which wealthy men heap up their gold.²⁰

Other flowering trees that belong to the region also obtain frequent mention are the pittikam, the piirkku, the kaayaa, the piṭavam and the avarai.

In Tamil poetry, the evening is said to bring affliction to separated lovers. The heroine believes that the hero will return to her because there is also an evening in the land of his sojourn to remind him of the sorrows which accompany the separation of lovers. She uses several epithets regarding the evening to show how much she dreads the approach of that ambivalent hour.²¹ Every aspect of nature at this hour of day, every sight, sound, smell and touch seems to accentuate her loneliness. The rain cloud drifting leisurely or resting on mountain tops or pouring its contents on the earth, reminds her that her lover has not returned as he promised. The farmers that went to the fields in the early morning with their little baskets filled with the seeds to be sown, now return home the same baskets filled with the season's flowers, a poignant reminder that the season has advanced without bringing any relief to her. The farmer's little daughter who has gathered the flowers of the countryside, goes hawking them along the roads, and her cries fill the heroine with as much concern as also the sight of the shepherds who repair to the village with milk, their heads and ears bedecked with flowers. Since the night is often wet during this season, the shepherds prefer to leave the plains and meadows and repair to the town or village with their flocks. The wailing of the flutes hurts her

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   ²¹ M. VARADHARAJAN, The Treatmentof Nature in Sangam Literature, o.c, p. 366.