Paari, of nature, sweeter than (river) water.
| (Puram; 105, 7) |
Of sweeter and cooler nature than water of the Vaani river that brings sandalwood.
| (Patir; 86, 13) |
Your mother like summer waters
| (Kali; 42, 84) |
Water tastes peculiarly sweet after one has been eating the gooseberry and this too is pointed out in the poems: Her words as sweet as the taste of those that drink water after having eaten of the nelli’s green fruit
| (Akam; 54, 15, 16) |
A tender heart in Tamil is spoken of as a “moist” heart. Moisture signifies kindness and tenderness as in the line: Regarding moisture, like water art thou.
| (Patir; 90, 14) |
The fecundity of the earth and its maternal kindness to man made all the ancients speak of the earth as a woman and mother. But Tamil poetry like Sanskrit poetry carried the comparison even further and spoke of the mountains as the breasts of Mother Earth, the bamboos as her slim shoulders, the rivers as her necklaces and her garlands, the ocean as her foam-bordered garment.22 Of these Nature’s landmarks Tamil poetry paid most attention to the rivers since these were the source of fertility for the Tamil land, a source that failed not even when the rains failed. It should be noted in concluding a chapter on the background of Nature poetry, that there are other countries which have been better endowed by Nature. But the poetic resource of this age found beauty even in the most ordinary and uninteresting regions. The fact that these poets have been able to find good poetry even in a desert landscape, as we shall see later, speaks very highly for their poetic resource and imaginative skill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 22 Cirupaan; 1-2. |