Liyawunu Sithuwili(Written Thoughts) is the first anthology of Sinhala poems by the engineer poet, Tharindu Weerasinghe. Prior to this, we read Candlelight, his maiden anthology of English poems. For Tharindu, an amateur poet, Candlelight is a stupendous literary achievement. We sincerely wish for this anthology to be as much successful as Candlelight or even more successful than it.
Tharindu, while being a software engineer by profession, seems capable of making time to ride the Pegasus; also we see that the angel of Inspiration does not refuse to visit people who can ill-afford to sit writing at a table from dawn to dusk or to burn the midnight oil, and spend most of their time sitting at a computer, browsing Internet or reading IT literature.
Writing poetry, we know, is not an easy art to master; one must devote oneself to it if one is to master it. Maybe, once in a while, a good poem is written with a few strokes of pen and without much effort being made. But, on most occasions, it is persistent writing, frequent striking off and continuous rewriting that give birth to a good poem. That is why, the Nobel Laureate Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, writes in Adam`s Curse:
“A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet, if it does not seem a moment`s thought,
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
For to articulate sweet sounds together
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world."
In the poem, ‘In My Craft or Sullen Art, English poet Dylan Thomas also describes the throes of composition. His craft or art is sullen because, words, like marble, are resistant material. Tharindu, while devoting much of his time to his profession, has been able to surmount all those hurdles and has continued to engage himself in the sullen craft of writing poetry. This anthology is the fruit of his tireless efforts.
The poem, ‘Amme…’(To Mother) is one of the finest poems in this collection. In it Tharindu writes:
“You (mother), who get up, having awakened the Sun,
(And) kindle the hearth every morning,
In spite of the fire burning in the heart,
When will your mission be over?”
I beg Tharindu`s pardon for my loose translation, because I believe poetry, as English poet, Robert Frost, famously remarked once, is what gets lost in translation. This poem also reminds me of Robert Hayden`s Those Winter Sundays, a poem about a loving father, wherein the poet asks:
“What did I know, what did I know
Of love`s austere and lonely offices?”
How much do we owe our parents for what they do for us? How few of us do ever thank our parents for those austere and lonely offices of love? Maybe, both of them had the same questions ringing in their minds as they wrote their poems. However, in Hayden`s poem, the underlying theme is remorse whereas in Tharindu`s, affection and gratitude meld with each other to make a wonderful poem. Tharindu, we see, is the luckier of the two.
The poem, ‘Kamaraye siti Makuluwata’(the Spider in the Room) reveals that Tharindu is a keen observer of life in the environment around him. Notwithstanding the beauty and the architectural intricacy of the cobweb, the spider has woven it for the sole solitary purpose of catching a fly or some other ill-fated insect. In this instance, the danger concealed in the veneer of beauty unveils itself to the poet`s sensitive eye and feeds his muses.
In the poem, ‘Numbha saha Mama’(You and I), Tharindu writes:
“You are the drizzle,
In the waterless desert,
I`m the oasis,
Enlivened by that rain.”
Again I must admit that I am hardly a good translator; as I am not satisfied with my translation, let me put that stanza in its original form.
“Nirudhaka katharata wata
Niliwassa numbha…
E wahi podhen pana labu
Kembima mama…”
Tharindu`s lines remind me of the song, ’Paalu andhuru mulu ahasa mamayi’ sung by Pandith W.D.Amaradeva. This is a very sweet love poem where the contrast of images chosen by the poet tells us a wonderful story.
In the poem, ‘Suwandha’(Fragrance), Tharindu, the philosopher, says while fragrance of flowers is spread in the direction of wind, the fragrance of humanity is spread in every direction. It is possible that he has drawn inspiration from the classic, Subashithaya to a certain extent. The religious influence in his English poems is just as prominent in his Sinhala poems.
Tharindu`s view on one-sided love, as he says in the poem, ‘Eaka parshaweeya Premaya’(One-sided Love) is that it is a tuneless song with only the first part written. Because I myself have had profound experience in that area, I do agree with the poet!
In the poem, ‘(Maroo) Dharu Pema’((Killed) love for children)-I cannot help but add brackets like in a sum-Tharindu takes up a dilemma. When something is neither right nor wrong or is both right and wrong from different perspectives, we call it a dilemma, which, we, nonetheless, prefer to circumvent rather than solve because it`s mind-boggling at its simplest. We cannot blame the woman for abandoning the children unless we prefer to see them being harassed by her husband or their father. At the same time, that a mother abandons her children is blameworthy by any moral standard. It is this complicated reality that Tharindu wants us to understand in this poem.
The poem, ‘Rata giya Ugatha’(The Intellectual who went Abroad) is about brain-drain, a common occurrence in Sri Lanka today. There is brutal candour in Tharindu`s lines. The poem, ’Noothana Highannage Kaviya’(The Modern Beggar`s Poem) carries sharp wit and irony. Tharindu, the satirist writes:
“Don`t give me a rupee or two,
At least, I want ten rupees;
(Otherwise) when my phone has been reloaded,
What remains for me to spend on the lunch?”
Today`s beggars are far richer than they used be and are, in a sense, sophisticated. Beggary in the main cities, it is said, is as lucrative a profession as politics. So it is little wonder that beggars are scarcely satisfied with a rupee or two. After all, they too must be feeling the sting of Global Economic Downturn!
Tharindu`s poem, ‘(Thawakalika) Samu ganeamak’(A (Temporary) Farewell) alludes to University of Peradeniya, perhaps the most romantic of all our universities, of which many a poem/song have been written and to the idyllic landscape of Hanthana. In truth, the four years we spend at the university are one of the loveliest periods of our lives with extremely poignant memories. At the end of those four years, when we must part from our friends and acquaintances and leave the familiar landscape behind, naturally, we long for staying a bit longer there. Sometimes, the guys of the outgoing batch must bid temporary farewell to their girls from the junior batches. Tharindu`s poem captures the essence of this painful reality.
The poem, ‘Pebarawari 14’ (February 14) is a sharply ironic poem about the commercialization of romance while the poem, ‘Apata apa nathiwella’(We have lost ourselves) is a gloomy depiction of the moral degradation in the country, owing largely to the ethnic strife in the North-East, which is, fortunately, drawing to a close now.
In the poem, ‘Dinak mata mese sithuna-Mama mese liwwa…’(One day it occurred to me (and) I wrote (it) like this…) Tharindu sketches a caricature of the paradox called ‘Man’: the God and the Devil, the genius and the fool, the saint and the beast, the king and the beggar, the hero and the coward. I believe it is the poet, Alexander Pope who gives the finest and the most perfect description of Man, the paradox:
“....Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or beast;
In doubt his mind and body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks to little, or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confus'd;
Still by himself, abus'd or disabus'd;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all,
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;
The glory, jest and riddle of the world.”
Essay on Man
The poem, ‘Wesmuhunu’(Masks) is a philosophical poem. We know how often we must wear masks to cloak up the strong emotions like jealousy, fear and anger boiling in the cauldron of our heart and threatening to explode out. Viewed in that light, even the saying that face is the mirror of one`s soul is barely a truth. And Tharindu`s poem, ‘Gami suwa’(Comfort of Countryside), we find, is a kind of pastoral poem, studded with wonderful images from our countryside.
Speaking of Tharindu`s poem about (In)gratitude, we must remember what Dr.Johnson said: “Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation, you cannot find it among the gross people.” If we do expect gratitude from people whom we happen to help, believe me, we are in for disappointment almost every day.
The poem, ‘Wiwahaya’(Marriage) is a short, philosophical poem, shedding light on a bittersweet reality. To prove the truth of Tharindu`s poem, we can find ample evidence from our neighbourhood, our workplaces or from the society at large. Tharindu`s talent as a budding lyricist is obvious in the last few poems in this collection. Maybe, we will be able to hear the songs written by him in the near future.
Liyawunu Sithuwili touches upon a wide range of themes such as romance, filial love, religion, nature, war and peace, morality, philosophy, science, social issues and so on and so forth. The poet, philosopher, humanist, naturalist, moralist, patriot, dove, judge, policeman, social critic, jester and satirist in Tharindu, we find, at work in his poetry at different intervals throughout this collection. Despite his super-busy schedule as a software engineer, Tharindu has managed to continue his bilingual literary career. And we see he has done an excellent job. For fans of Sinhala poetry, this is a literary treasure of immense value, because from the first page to the last one, it makes an interesting reading. We sincerely appreciate Tharindu`s creative/literary endeavours and are happy to encourage him to keep up his literary work.
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