Scan the poet ever so close and yet you can scarcely cull a line answering to this description. The discussion on religious ideals between KARUNAKARAR and NISHTAPARAR is charged with some of the deepest thoughts and arguments on the subject, which seem to race one another in quick succession and with amazing facility. He has not only laid under contribution the works of Western thinkers, but has made splendid use of the winged thoughts and dictional felicities of the great masters in Tamil literature. He has drawn glittering gems of thought and expression from such works as புறநானூறு, கலித்தொகை, சிலப்பதிகாரம், கம்பராமாயணம், பாரதம், திருவிளையாடற்புராணம், பாடுதுறை, ஒழிவிலொடுக்கம் and set them in his own work to heighten their beautiful effect. The great literary masterpieces of Kural and Tiruvachakam have supplied him with the greatest number of wise saws and polished phrases and even a student with a working acquaintance of these Tamil classics can easily pick them out from many a scene in the play. I make a special reference to these borrowings, because they are such as certainly establish the genius and artistic taste of our author beyond all dispute. It is true literary borrowings and even pilferings are easily effected; but the danger from extracting thoughts and expressions from great authors is indeed great! In nine cases out of ten, unless the borrower is not a gifted writer himself, such thoughts and expressions will appear as purple patches amongst his own drab arid commonplaces, which are on that account thrown into greater relief of repulsiveness. If, however, an author dares to draw, now and then, thoughts and expressions from the great masters and dresses them in his own original style for re-serving, and you find that these please your artistic palate equally well, if not better, you cannot but ascribe special merit to the later artist. Passages that are taken from that ethical mine. Kural and from that treasure - house of religious lyric enthusiasm, Thiruvachakam, sparkle in the play against an appropriately beautiful background and add to its literary value and grace. Usually in the works of great writers we come across aphorisms and sayings picked out from common parlance and embodied therein for greater clearness and homely beauty. Mr. Sundaram Pillai has enlivened his poetry by appropriating a number of such expressive Tamil Proverbs, living in everyday use. On account of their simplicity and clearness, these proverbs drive home the truths they are brought to illustrate in the dialogue. Taking Mr. Sundaram Pillai's poetry as a whole and judging it from the basic law of verbal melody as from the highest requisite of art in the field of creative imagination, Manonmaniyam may well claim to occupy a special niche in the temple of Tamil Muse. Still I cannot close my remarks under this head without observing that his poetry would have gained more in naturalness and concreteness so necessary to the poetic art if he had avoided the stereotyped