In This Lesson On Bharathi

In this lesson on Bharathi, we attempt to show how Bharathi changed the course of Tamil poetry. In the 18th and 19th centuries Tamil poetry revelled in the acrobatics of language jugglery, eulogy of individuals, flights of fancy and imagination, etc., The credit of bringing poetry from the pedestal of scholars to the common man in the street goes to Bharathi. He turned poetry into a tool for changing the plight of the common man. He brought in the 'new'content of humanitarianism and nationalism as worthy topics for poetic compositions. He experimented with the old forms of poetry introducing new content into them; he also brought in new forms to articulate his concern for the nation, for the women, the children and the oppressed. His diction was of the common man and his style was akin to man speaking to man.

The revolution brought about thus by Bharathi had an impact on a whole lot of poets that followed him - Bharathidasan, Desika Vinayakam Pillai, Namakkal Kavignar Ramalingam Pillai, Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram and a host of others. Poetry became a tool for social reform; it became a thing of relevance, useful to everyone high or low.

This change in the trend of Tamil poetry is dealt with in this lesson.