Page:Cilappadikaram The Earliest Tamil Epic.pdf/6

 Ilanko had a rich supply of stories, an important source of material for an epic poet. Witness for instance, the stories of Nala and Damayanti (XIV 1.50 et. seq.), Rama and Sita (XIV 11.46-49), Devasura war, Mahabharata war etc. (XXVI 11.236 et. seq.), of the Brahman who hid the treasure trove (XXI), of the Pandya who chopped off his right hand (XXIII), of the thieves who bolted away (XVI), of the monkey that was grateful (XV), of the Brahman lady who killed a mongoose (XV), of the seven chaste women of Puhar who wrought miracles (XXI) etc. These stories and episodes can be detached and enjoyed by themselves.

Ilanko was mainly a literary epic poet. He wrote for readers rather than hearers. He avoided stock phrases and embellished his poem by fashioning his words with care and artistry. It was customary to compare the gait of a woman to that of a swan and Ler speech to the voice of a parrot but Ilanko re-created these dead metaphors and introduced new life into his descriptions. (vide Canto II-11.38-80). Addressing Kannaki, his bride, Kovalan said, for instance, that the swans defeated by her gait tracked off in shame to hide themselves amidst the flower-beds in the fields and the parrots, though they found they were not her peers in the matter of speech, which had the sweetness of a lute and a flute and nectar all commingled, would not leave her hands in the hope that they would learn from her the secret of her speech charm.

Many are the ways in which Ilanko describes such familiar things as the approach of an evening or a dawn. Canto IV portrays the fall of an evening in Puhar, the Chola capital. There the poet shows how it caused pleasure to persons like Mathavi who were in the company of their lovers and how equally it was distressing to persons like Kannaki who had been separated from their husbands. The shepherds sing sweet notes on their flutes; the beetles do so through the Mullai (November) buds; the tender breeze spreads fine fragrance all round; women with