Grammar Of The Sangam Love Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

All love poems coined in the Sangam period
Would indicate on which of five kinds of land
The love scene was enacted: Kurinji,
Mullai, Marutham, Neithal and Palai,

Love aspects are divided into five parts:
Union is where lovers meet and fall in love.
Separation is when she waits for his return
Waiting is where he has gone seeking fortunes
Pining is when she is compelling his return to marriage.
Quarrelling is when she resents his courtesan connection i.
Each part is assigned to each of five lands.

The Hill land mood is brought about in the poem
When the falling in love is spoken of.
The Woodland mood is brought about to tell
About the heroine waiting for her lover.
The Wasteland mood is brought about to tell
About the hero going out to seek his fortune.
The sea-land mood is brought about to tell
About the enforced separation and its outcome.
The river plain mood is brought about to tell
The married life and the courtesans' irritation.

The hill land is indicated by telling
Such as waterfalls, peacocks and millet fields.
The woodland is implied by telling
Such as pools, deer and wild lime trees.
The wasteland is pictured by telling
Such as desert, dry wells, and vultures.
The seaside land is indicated by telling
Such as seagulls, drying fish and fishermen.
The river field land is shown by telling
Such as rice, buffalo, and heron.

Though all stages of love can happen
In every land of five lands, it is unique
That each stage assigned to certain land.

(Of the 2381 the Sangam poems,1862 poems deal with the theme of love. Of 473 poets,373 poets wrote poems on love. The Sangam period 100BC to AD 300. They are grouped under 36 volumes.)

(Kurunji - the hill land, Mullai - The woodland,
Marutham - the River field land, Neithal - the sea land And Pali - the waste land)
28.07.2022