The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram with Translation and Notes – Part II (Post.10,520)

WRITTEN BY S NAGARAJAN
Post No. 10,520
Date uploaded in London – – 3 JANUARY 2022

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge;
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
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Published at http://www.ezinearticles. com recently

The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram with Translation and Notes – Part II

Santhanam Nagarajan

This is the second part of the review of the book titled, ‘The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram with Translation and Notes’. This book consists of 55 poems of the great Tamil poet Tiruloka Sitaram duly translated in English by Sekkizhar Adi-p-podi Dr T.N.Ramachandran.
Gandharva Ganam, The Lord-Owner, The Nest of Sparrows, The Canopy of Renown, An Aubade, The Impish Boy, The Riddle of Eriodendum are some of the headings of the poems.
Triloka Sitraram has also written essays in Tamil in a lucid style.
He welcomes The New Year with an appropriate song like this:

The Morning star smites the East;
The Wheel of Fire skims the sea;
Gentle Notus Eke doth drift
Atop the rolling stream.

The first line could be compared with Shakespeare’s line “ As bright, as dear, As yonder Venus in her glimmering sphere”. The second line denotes Apollo’s car as ‘The Wheel of Fire’.

As he is very much attracted towards great English poets, he has translated some of the interesting poems in Tamil language. Longfellow’s ‘The Arrow and the Song’, T.Hood’s, ‘The Bridge of Sighs’, G.M.Hopin’s, ‘A Sonnet’ are worth mentioning.

How he creates the poems? This question was answered by Professor T.R.Kuppuswami.
Prof Kuppuswami narrates his experience with Triloka Sitaram thus:

“Poetry is at his beck and call. In between dressing betel-leaves, correcting proofs, answering telephone call or speaking with customers and friends, he scribbles a few lines. The poem builds up by fits and starts and it never receives a retouch. Once I had the audacity to inquire of him whether the continuity was not spoiled by his breaks. ‘Nothing of that kind. I wield the pen whenever I want and the poem takes shapes.”

He also observes thus about his translation of poems into Tamil language :
“His genius has another sparkling facet. Translation, particularly of poetry, is an impossible job. Faithful rendering in a different language with all the spirit and beauty of the original intact is an Utopean dream. But he is an exception. To him it is a child’s play.”

Mr T.N. Ramachandran who translated all the Tamil poems into English has done a commendable task. His wide knowledge acquired over years has helped him to shape this book.

It was Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe who said, “ Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.”

Here is a book which gives you many good poems, if you want to take the advise of Goethe.

Summary
Tiruloka Sitaram was a great writer, poet and journalist. Writing poetry for him is a child’s paly. Poetry is at his beck and call. This book has 55 of his selected poems. He has also translated famous English poet’s poems in Tamil. Dr T.N.Ramachandran duly translated his Tamil poems into English.

Santhanam Nagarajan has written more than five thousand articles in Tamil and English. He has published 71 digital books so far. Thousands worldwide are reading his articles on Mantras, Tantras, Science and Hinduism. He has appeared in more than 130 TV programs. More than 160 articles have been published in http://www.ezinearticles.com

Tiruloka Sitraram, 55 Tamil poems with translation in English, famous English poet’s poems in Tamil

The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram (Post No.10,438)

GREAT TAMIL POET AND AUTHOR TRILOKA SITARAM

WRITTEN BY S NAGARAJAN
Post No. 10,438
Date uploaded in London – – 13 DECEMBER 2021

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Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Santhanam_Nagarajan/19574

The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram with Translation and Notes!
Santhanam Nagarajan

The book under review titled, ‘The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram with Translation and Notes’ has 55 poems of the great Tamil poet Tiruloka Sitaram duly translated in English by Sekkizhar Adi-p-podi Dr T.N.Ramachandran.

Tiruloka Sitaram was born to Lokanatha Iyer and Meenakshi Sundarammal on 1-4-1917 at a small village called Thondaimanthurai in Trichy district in Tamilnadu, India. His father passed away in his third year and his uncle brought him up. His mother tongue was Telugu. He married Rajamani aged 10 at his 19th year.
He started his life as a priest. He was very much interested in Tamil literature. He went to Ramasami padayachi, a great Tamil scholar and learnt all the Tamil epics like Kamba Ramayanam and Bharatham.

He started composing his own wonderful poems. He started publishing a Tamil magazine by name India Valiban and had written articles under the nickname Mandahasan. Later on he had used his own name for all of his writings.
He was very much attracted by the poems of the great Poet Subramanya Bharathi. It became his habit not to spend a day without reading or quoting at least some lines from Bharatiyar.

The bond was so deep that he assumed himself as a spiritual son of Bharathi even though he had never seen the great poet as he was passed away during 1921.
He went to the house of Chellammal Bharathi, the wife of Bharathi, during her last days. Chellammal breathed her last on his lap.

As a journalist he started a magazine by name Sivaji and the poems and articles published therein attracted the Tamil world. He lived only for 56 years and breathed his last on 23-8-1973.

His famous poem Gandarva Ganam describes the dawn, the evening in powerful words.
The translation goes like this:
The day dawned on Pothika’s peak
And ‘neath the sprint that lay a crescent
Was the ragged mountain-cave
Its mammoth mouth wide agape
‘Twixt whose teeth, solemn and devout
Flowed the flood onto the plain.
We may compare these lines with Kubla Khan of Coleridge:
“.. That deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill.”

The Evening comes like this:
The hasting Sun rushed headlong
And smote the spring with million shafts;
The frothy foam vaporescent
In atoms rose as wondrous bow
Which he eyed in delight great,
The hunting bow on shoulder slacked.
Here, the line ‘frothy foam vaporescent; may be compared to Milton’s
‘When vapours fired
Impress the air”
This is just one example to explain how the poetic mind of Tiruloka Sitaram explores the nature.

We have fifty-five such wonderful poems duly translated in English.
The book is printed beautifully in such a way that one would not put it down without reading all the poems.

The translator T.N.Ramachandran has compared many of the poems with that of Shakespeare’s and concludes “ The thoughts of Donne and Coleridge are less powerful than those of Shakespeare who however finds a match in Tiruloka Sitaram”.

We may see some more poems of this great poet in our next article.


Tag;
Tiruloka Sitraram, Translations, Tamil poet