Page:The Kural or The Maxims Of Tiruvalluvar.pdf/42

 of the four great objectives of life, namely Love. The whole part is taken by the great commentators of the Kural as the romance of a single couple from the time when they meet each other for the first time up to the time when they reunite after a temporary separation from one another. But for one or two stanzas which may not appear to fit exactly with this scheme, all the 250 verses do lend themselves to this explanation. Of course each verse can also be considered as describing an isolated situation and containing a delicate analysis of one of the hundred varying moods of the lover's heart. The most ardent admirers of "Locksley Hall" will have to admit that the Tamil poet is easily the superior of Tennyson in analysing the infinite number of moods that chase each other in the agitated minds of lovers.

The romance begins with the accidental meeting of a young man and a damsel in a grove. It is a case of love at first sight. They plight their words to one another and enter the married state. No rites are gone through but the simple plighting of the faith, but that was sufficient in the heroic age of Tamil society Rh