Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Great Regulars: It is a universally admitted fact that Mahakavi Ulloor,

along with Mahakavi Kumaran Asan and Mahakavi Vallathol--all of whom were contemporaries--brought about a great renaissance in Malayalam Literature in the 1st half of the 20th century. Their literary, social and cultural influence on subsequent generations of Malayalam literary men and women has been profound. The cultural impact of this triumvirate on Malayalam literature in the 20th century can be compared with the influence of Mahakavi Gurajada Venkata Apparao (1862-1915) of Andhra on Telugu literature and that of Mahakavi Bendre of Karnataka on Kannada literature in the 20th century.

from V Sundaram: News Today: Baritone: A 'mahakavi' of Kerala

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All these thoughts about poets and poetry rushed to my mind when I recently re-read the great poems of Robert W Service (1874-1958). The crown of literature is poetry. That is why W Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) observed: 'Poetry is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.' Robert W Service, through his great poems, succeeds in giving this message to each one of his readers: 'My verse represents a handle I can grasp in order not to yield to the centrifugal forces which are trying to throw me off the world.'

from V Sundaram: News Today: Baritone: Tribute to a timeless people's poet

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