(To the hare that is supposed to be in the moon) Hare that from the moon dost survey the dark ocean-fringed earth, thou wilt show me where my beloved is. If thou dost not, I shall urge on thee thy enemy hounds, or inform the hunters of thy dwelling-place. | (Kali; 144) |
Kālidāsa is one of the greatest of Nature poets of India. His preference is for placid landscapes and serene lakes and forests. Greek and Latin Poetry The Cankam poets have many more points of contact with Greek and Latin authors than with European poets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is in no way surprising since long periods of time in the world's history seem to bring about changes also in the world's poetic interpretation of Nature. At first, in the childhood of a race, there is a childlike and simple appreciation of Nature. Later as the race grows to manhood, and advancing civilization creates city-life and an interest in man, Nature is relegated to a background. A third stage then comes when an over-civilized people seek comfort and solace and calm repose in Nature. A quotation from Vinet which occurs in Shairp's Poetic Interpretation of Nature is particularly revealing: The more the soul has been cultivated by social intercourse, and especially the more it has suffered from it, the more, in short, society is disturbed and agonized, the more rich and profound Nature becomes-mysteriously eloquent for the one who comes to her from out the ardent and tumultuous centre of civilization.11 |
This probably explains the modern view of Nature that has been popular in the world since the time of Rousseau, Göethe and Wordsworth. What a vast difference there is in the concept and interpretation of Nature, say, between Vergil and Wordsworth, between Para–ar and Subrahmania Bharati. Homer, Hesiod and Theocritus are older than the Cankam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 J. C. SHAIRP, Poetic Interpretation of Nature, o.c.; p. 236. |