Best Tamil Poems

The peacocks dance
at grove near the cool pond;
and the lotuses brace
lamps like raised heads;

Nimbus clouds thrum
like loud drums;
and violet lilies scrutinize
the scene with bulbous eyes;

Hushed wavelets
array like curtains;
and the bees harmonize sweet songs,
like soothing tunes of (fish-shaped) harp;

Amidst this picturesque place,
the MARUDHAM is enthroned

*Marudham- The God of fertile land

The old Tamil literature describes the five...

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The Parrot and the Woodpecker may turn...
    [Sung by TEnicayccal Cellappa]        Translated by T.Wignesan
 
mAnkiliyum marankottiyum                    The parrot and the woodpecker

   kUtutirumpa tatayillai ...

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Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and Michael R. Burch

On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib,
your words might have seemed deeply profound
and we might have pronounced you a saint...
if only we hadn't found
you drunk
as a skunk!


Ghazal
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Michael R. Burch

Not the blossomings of song nor the adornments of music:
I am the...

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Additional free advice to those* who would be King from the THIRUK-KURAL with Commentary
[*like presidents, prime ministers, dictators of declining (falling or fallen) nations or even empires]

K442: urranOy niikki uraa amai munkaakkum
            petriyaarp peenik kolal

Cherish the all-accomplished men as friends,
Whose skill the present ill...

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Part Two


                                          SEVEN STARK WORDS
Seven alliterative blockbuster words struck so
    they...

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Niithaar Perumai, the Fundamental Role of Ascetics, Canto 26 of the Thirukkural, the Tamil Classical Treatise on Ethics, Translation and Commentary by T. Wignesan 


[Given the scarcity of information (mostly conflicting even then) on the origins and times of the author of this classical Tamil literary masterpiece, I have selected the above decadal canto for...

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Thiru-Valluvar on Praising the Good Qualiities of Ladies: Canto 112 - Nalam Pinainththu Uraiththal

[The poet devotes the third part of his treatise, the Thiruk-Kural to INBATHTHUPPAAL, the amorous relationship between the sexes, i.e.,  cantos 109 to 133. of which the first seven concerns itself with "concealed love" (the Gandharva marriage) while the last seventeen...

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The Anatomy of a Kural: Maxim Number 245 (taken at random) of the Thirukkural, the Tamil Classic on Ethics by Thiruvalluvar 

allal arulaalvaarkku illai valivalangum

mallalmaa naalam kari (K245)

“The teeming earth's vast realm, round which the wild winds blow,
Is witness, men of 'grace' no woeful want shall know.” (Tr. G.W.Pope)

“This great rich earth over which the...

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a grab-and-run pack
a small survival sack
with one set of clothes for spouse and self
passports, a file with just few mails
an old diary with addresses to contact
in England, Finland, and Switzerland

and some currency notes
couple of thousands
in rupees that does not stretch
like the American dollars
they were what i needed most

as the pogrom was in progress
in my Tamil...

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Mnemonic Devices: Rhyme and Alliteration in the THIRUKKURAL, a random example: Canto 4, K35 by T. Wignesan

alukkaaru avaavekuli innaacchol naangkum
ilukkaa iyanrathu aram (refined, shorn of connective particles)
The way of vileness, self-congratulatory aid, ire and foul-mouthing - these four attitudes will cause the charity-giver to slip from the natural path of virtue into ignominy. (Tr. T....

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While I was searching a book to read in my old school
Today maybe changed somehow modernized,
There were lot of rooms,
With many of the destitute instant of books.
Anyway, however, I was swerved..
This is my own school why should I hesitate…
The swot ..like swingle …
You’re my SCHOOL.. Swivelled on you
Who could have changed you like this…?
Distorted…
I am...

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I live in a city of  a Indian state
where you can discern refreshing greeneries, that accommodate
the kingfishers,Rollers,peacocks,snakes and white cranes
Although rice is the major crop,black lentils,sugar canes
corns,sunflowers and groundnuts are the seasonal crops
Since it is a rainfed area,the agriculture rely on rain drops

Pongal,the three days festival is celebrated in mid-January
for the year harvest,as a...

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To what profound penance owe you this boon, O! Yashotha! Translation of Oothukkadu Venkata Subbha Iyer’s enna thavam seithanai – yashOthA by T. Wignesan

To what profound penance owe you this boon, O! YashOthA! ®

That He – the ParaBrahmman – who bestrides the Universe
Should call you “Mother!”

To what profound penance owe you this boon, O! YashOthA!

He...

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Part Three

Whether or not relations with the uncultured enamour
Do not seek to succour what should sour

What does it matter if you gain or lose inferiors
Who feather their own nests and leave you in a mess

Those who look to the benefit that accrues from friendship
And those who covet largesse are thick as thieves

Better be content to...

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Amma,
Unakhaka.. .

Unnai endrum Nan nenaikka matane, 
Enenil Nee endrum ennudanthan irrukirai! 
Athepol unnai Nan endrum Marakka matane ,
Enenil En uyirenul Nee kalanthullai........

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