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Book Review
TAMIL
Tamil prosody
S. N. Kandaswamy
KAVI PAADALAAM: Ki.Vaa. Jagannathan; Sri Senbhagam Pathippagam, Old No. 24, Krishna Street, T. Nagar, Chennai-600017. Rs. 60.
THIS BOOK is a collection of essays on the basic principles of Tamil prosody originally published in the literary journal Manchari during 1959-61. Though there are many texts on the subject written in verse form like Yaaparunkalakaarigai (1050 A.D.), modern students don’t easily understand them without the help of a guide.
Knowing their difficulty, the reputed author of this book has simplified the canons of versification and presented them in such a way that even an average reader can grasp them without much difficulty.
This book is divided into two parts. In the first part the author has dealt with the rhythmic sound patterns such as consonance and alliteration, metric syllables and foot which contribute to the structural excellence of a verse. Some popular metres such as virutham, venba, aasiriyam and kalippa are explicated with copious examples.
In the second part, additional features of Tamil metrics are discussed in lucid language. Details of the constituent members of a verse, and also the primary and supplementary metres have received sufficient coverage.
There is also an essay on musical composition.
In addition to the illustrations, quoted from the Tamil classics, the author has also composed some models to exemplify some metrical forms. This book will be useful for budding poets.
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