World Poetry Day was celebrated on March 21. The observance was meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, promote the teaching of poetry and restore a dialogue between poetry and other arts, such as, theatre, music and painting.
Poetry was once thought of as one of the most beautiful and important art forms in existence. Today, it could be questioned whether it is as widely appreciated.
Our poets
Historically, poetry has played an important role in Sri Lankan literature ever since the introduction of Buddhism. As in literature, the largest part of Sri Lankan poetry is written in the Sinhala language. However, a considerable part is also written in the other two main languages, English and Tamil.
There were hundreds of famous poets in our history. A few names that come to mind are: Gurulugomi, Thotagamuwe Sri Rahulathera, Veedagama Maithree thera, Fr. Marcelline Jayakody, Kumaratunga Munidasa, S. MahindaThera, Sagara Palansooriya, Arisen Ahubudu, Wimalaratne Kumaragama, Siri Gunasinghe, Mahagama Sekara, Gunadasa Amarasekara, Lucien Bulathsinhala, Eric Illayapparachchi, Sunil Ariyaratne, Samantilakasiri and Rathna Sri Wijesinghe.
Evolution
Classical Sri Lankan poetry has a long history. The earliest texts which have been preserved were written during the reign of Parakrama Bahu I (1153-1186). He is said to have established 128 libraries throughout his kingdom. These first Sinhalese works, written on olas included prose treatises on religion, morality, medicine and science, but there were more poems than prose works.
By the end of the 14th century other historical works appeared, including the Dalada-vamsa and the Thupavamsa, which are highly-rated chronicles. There were also The Sidath Sangarava written by an educated monk. The early 15th century is termed as the age of poets. A great poet of this period was T Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera. His principal works were the Kawyashekaraya, the Selalihini Sandese and the Paravisandese.
The period between mid-15th century and mid-19th century was a difficult one, marked by divisions, inter-group struggles and invasion by Westerners - a period unfavourable for the development of poetry.
Four groups
According to Gunadasa Amarasekera, beginning from the middle of the last century, our poets began to use poetry as a vehicle to convey thoughts and emotions of a modern urban society. He categorises them into four. The first category of scholarly poets belonging to an older generation looked up to our classical literature which had ceased to evolve after the 17th century with the invasion of foreign nations.
The first generation of poets who attempted to express a modern sensibility looked for a poetic tradition which would fit into the changing moods. What they did not realise was that a new poetic tradition cannot be created just by a group of dedicated poets. It needed mass participation.
This relationship between the literary intellectuals and the common folk is found throughout the history of literature.
The first generation of our poets did not realise this and their attempt was a failure.
A new group of younger poets called ‘Colombo Poets’ then took over. They too didn’t realize the necessity of a poetic tradition. The poetic diction they ‘invented’ was forged out of the new journalistic language of the newspapers, and fictional works based on the Western novel. The novelty of their poetry did not last more than two decades. These poets were replaced by another group of young poets centered around the Peradeniya University. They were well versed in Western literature. They knew not only Shelly and Wordsworth but practitioners of the most recent forms of poetry - TS Eliot, Ezra Pound and Charles Baudelaire were their gurus.
However, they were unaware of the need for a poetic tradition. The language they invented, the images and the metaphors they created were not clearly understood by the average Sinhala reader. The result of this new free verse movement was to wean away the reader from the enjoyment of poetry.
The fourth category of poets who attempted to present a modern sensibility through their work could be distinguished from the above three groups by their search for a poetic tradition. They have gone to folk poetry to discover this tradition.
They believed that with the disappearance of our poetic tradition from the main stream of classical literature, it has continued its survival through folk poetry. They realised that by forging folk poetry with the classical, they could create the ‘sophisticated’ poetic diction needed to express a modern sensibility. Munidasa Kumaratunga was one of the most successful modern poets who resorted to this transformation.
Much alive
Is our poetry a dying art? No, it is not! Poetry is not dying, it is merely evolving. As Gunadasa Amarasekera says, any art must be relevant to the times to be effective and our poetry too has evolved and changed throughout its history and would continue to evolve and change.
Advocates for the art of poetry say that reading and writing poems can sharpen the powers of observation and boost critical thought. Through reading poems, you can learn to think. If you can read a poem, you can “read” a film, a painting as well as a political speech. It helps us notice things that are impossible to take into account in our rush through our busy lives.
Poems comprised everyday material expertly arranged in ways that require a reader’s time and reflection. But the reward is great: a memorable insight into humanity, a line that perfectly captures a moment or a truth we want to remember, an experience with language that provokes new ideas and deeper understanding. Above all, poetry can help us find common ground with other Sri Lankans at a time when our nation feels socially fractured.