Selected Poems  (English, Paperback, BHARATI SUBRAMANIA)

In the melody that is heard all day long, In the teeming city and in nature's wilderness, In all these notes I have lost myself.' Honoured at a public function when he was a mere boy of eleven with the title 'Bharati' (one blessed by Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning), C. Subramania Bharati (1882-1921) is renowned as the herald of the renaissance of Tamil literature. The simplicity and lyricism that marked his poetry reflect a clear shift in sensibility and craft from the classical tradition, which had adhered to strictures of style, imagery and language for over 2000 years. Ranging from the fiercely patriotic and the deeply romantic, to the humbling intensity of devotion and the sharp criticism of self and society, this selection brings together poems that reflect the very essence of Bharati's broad philosophy. Usha Rajagopalan's stellar translations echo the lyricism and transformative power that have lent Bharati's poetry their distinctive, enduring quality.

About the Author
Usha Rajagopalan writes fiction and poetry in English and has won several awards, including three consecutive Commonwealth Short Story prizes, two All India Poetry prizes and the Muse India Translation Prize for poetry. She is the 2011 Charles Wallace Fellow at the British Centre for Literary Translation, University of East Anglia. She has been in residence at Sangam House, Bangalore, Le Chteau de Lavigny, Switzerland, and at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Table of Cpntents

• Acknowledgements
• Major Milestones in Bharati’s Life
• The Life and Times of C. Subramania Bharati (1882–1921)

Poems
1. A Special Song
2. Cruel Thunderbolt
3. Kuyil Paattu 1
4. Kuyil Paattu 2
5. False or True?
6. Me
7. Panchali’s Pledge
8. The Goddess of Beauty
9. A Patch of Land
10. Worshipping the Worker
11. A Baby Fire
12. Aspirations
13. A Prayer to Sri Lakshmi
14. An Appeal to Mahasakthi
15. Divine Munificence
16. Omnipresence
17. Awake, Mother India!
18. Beat the Drum
19. Bharat, Our Country
20. Our Country
21. Salutations to the Motherland
22. Rain
23. The Wind
24. To the Sun
25. To the Wind
26. Clarity of Mind
27. Fickle Mind
28. In Search of Answers
29. Ordering the Mind
30. Show Mercy to the Enemy
31. Success
32. Song Sung to a Parrot
33. Terrible Cruelty
34. The Warrior’s Dirge
35. Victory over the Self
36. Vision of Truth
37. Women’s Liberation
38. Murugan’s Song to Valli 1
39. Murugan’s Song to Valli 2
40. Remembering Kanamma
41. Altar of the Mind
42. Kannamma, My Beloved
43. Kannan, My Lover 1
44. Kannan, My Lover 2
45. Kannan, My Lover (Searching for Him)
46. Kannan, the Prankster
47. The Snake Charmer
48. In the Sugarcane Fields
49. Freedom from Toil
50. Muse of Poetry
51. Notes from a Flute
52. The Past Will Not Return
Notes