temporary poets, one a native, the other a foreigner. The second of these whose poems occupy still a high place in literature was the celebrated Beschi, not a Tamilian, like every other Tamil poet, but an Italian.... who acquired such a mastery over Tamil especially over its classical dialect and no other European seems ever to have acquired over that or any other Indian language.”⁴

Let us consider initially Beschi’s minor poems. Aruṇakirināthar’s beautiful and rhythmic compositions (compositions with a particular metre and rhythm) became very popular. In his compositions, the repetitive sound effect is very important and they are well suited for rhythmical singing. In many of the chief temples these songs were sung beautifully by devotees. Beschi possibly noted the wide popularity this particular kind of Tamil poetry enjoyed; so he adopted it for his composition in which glories of Christ are expounded. The older bards had sung of Muruga and the other Hindu Gods but Beschi sang about Jesus. The form was ancient but the content new. Jesus is the central hero. Probably he intended the converted native Christians to sing this as widely as the Hindus sang their Vaṇṇams. The last four verses describe four female saints of the Roman Catholic Religion. They are St. Mary Magdalen, St. Cecily, St. Barbara and St. Kittari.

Another Tamil poetic form is antāti which also Beschi sucessfully attempted. The characteristic feature of this form is that the last word, syllable or letter of one stanza becomes the first of the next verse. This form was easy to commit to memory and hence was very popular. This is obvious since no books were available then and people were banking on manuscripts. Kantarantāti also by Aruṇakiri was a very popular native work. Beschi wrote a lyric on Mary and was called Aṉṉai Aḻuṅkal Antāti. This composition of Beschi expresses in beautiful words the plight of the inconsolable Mary, after her son’s crucifixion. The name Jesus has been translated as Cēcu. The crucifixion is movingly described and the Mother’s pain at it is most conspicuous. Mary bewails the loss of her son in a most pathetic strain.

4. Caldwell, R.; A Political and General History of Tinnevelly; Pp. 38, 239