In this episode, we'll explore the poems of A.K. Ramanujan. AKR as he was popularly known was born in 1929 in Mysore. He moved to the us in 1962 and became a very distinguished Professor of linguistics and dravidian studies at the University of Chicago. He's well known for his poems of love and war, an anthology of classical poems in Tamil translated into the English language. His poems in English are the reflections of an expatriate Indian poet, swinging between his perceptions of the vitality, energy, freedom of the west and his memories of his roots in his classical past in South India.
In this episode, we listen to his poem in English, A River - about the Vaigai river in Madurai, which remains dry most of the summer, but always romanticized by Tamil poets. In one of his visits to Madre, the poet was shocked to see the river in floods, cutting away three village houses, a couple of cows, one pregnant woman, and yet the Tamil poets, unperturbed and indifferent continued to paint a romantic vision of the river.
I have also chosen to read a classical Tamil poem by Kaniyan Poongundran, written between 100 BC and 250 AD in Tamil. It's called, Every town a hometown.
The Poems:
1. Every town a home town by Kaniyan Poongundran. Translation by A.K. Ramanujan
2. A River by A.K. Ramanujan
Music:
Lesfm from Pixabay
JuliusH from Pixabay
NaturesEye from Pixabay
Enjoy the poems!
Episode 3 - A.K. Ramanujan
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This Week in Poetry
This Week in Poetry With Prof.Nedumaran is a podcast series aimed at fostering a passion for poetry through listening to select poems as they are read by an expert. <br /><br />Poetry is an auditory experience. Words, chosen and arranged by the poet when read aloud come to life lighting up the content the poet has packed in the words and sounds. A good poem brightens up our moments. It gives us the glory and the grief, the ebb and flow of life eventually, helping us understand ourselves and others in a better light. Frost said a poem is a clarification of life; it raises questions, stirs our curiosity, builds imaginary bridges to negotiate doubts and uncertainties.<br /><br />The podcast presents some of the best moments in the history of civilization. Listening to the best minds can be a very invigorating exercise, energising, entertaining and profoundly illuminating. <br /><br />Prof. R.Nedumaran with his thirty some years of teaching and living poetry at The American College, Madurai reads poems of his choice from English and Tamil Literatures for your listening pleasure.<br /><br />“The word / was born in the blood / grew in the dark body,beating / and flew through the lips and the mouth” Pablo Neruda the Latin American poet in his poem, The Word. <br /><br />Words are a source of life. Reach the source through the sounds. “ The sound makes no sense unless it is heard” Robert Frost.<br /><br />A poem is always an attempt at clarification of life. A poem is a performance.<br />Come let's perform poetry ! Let the sounds of life from the poems we read give us joy and light.<br /><br />Welcome to This Week in Poetry with Prof.Nedumaran.
This Week in Poetry With Prof.Nedumaran is a podcast series aimed at fostering a passion for poetry through listening to select poems as they are read by an expert. <br /><br />Poetry is an auditory experience. Words, chosen and arranged by the poet when read aloud come to life lighting up the content the poet has packed in the words and sounds. A good poem brightens up our moments. It gives us the glory and the grief, the ebb and flow of life eventually, helping us understand ourselves and others in a better light. Frost said a poem is a clarification of life; it raises questions, stirs our curiosity, builds imaginary bridges to negotiate doubts and uncertainties.<br /><br />The podcast presents some of the best moments in the history of civilization. Listening to the best minds can be a very invigorating exercise, energising, entertaining and profoundly illuminating. <br /><br />Prof. R.Nedumaran with his thirty some years of teaching and living poetry at The American College, Madurai reads poems of his choice from English and Tamil Literatures for your listening pleasure.<br /><br />“The word / was born in the blood / grew in the dark body,beating / and flew through the lips and the mouth” Pablo Neruda the Latin American poet in his poem, The Word. <br /><br />Words are a source of life. Reach the source through the sounds. “ The sound makes no sense unless it is heard” Robert Frost.<br /><br />A poem is always an attempt at clarification of life. A poem is a performance.<br />Come let's perform poetry ! Let the sounds of life from the poems we read give us joy and light.<br /><br />Welcome to This Week in Poetry with Prof.Nedumaran.Listen on
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Appears in episode
Ramanujam Nedumaran
Episode 3 - A.K. Ramanujan