Love Stands Alone: Selections from Tamil Sangam Poetry
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Edited by AR Venkatachalapathy
Translated by ML Thangappa
Penguin Books India
256 pages, Rs 399
Composed at the turn of the Common Era, these ancient poems translated from classical Tamil are direct, subtle and surprisingly contemporary in tone. The poems fall under two broad themes: akam, the interior and puram, the exterior. The akam poems are concerned with love in all its varied situations. The puram poems encompass all other aspects of worldly life such as war, the munificence of kings, and the wisdom of bards.
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