Prof. A. SR: NË VASÅ RÅGĦÄYAËNë, *"Bharathi Ahast: Principal, - Tuticorin-3, W. C. Chidambaram Coifege. 2–1 –63 FÖR EVAC R)
- TCi_{APPHYAAA” is one of the earliest Tamil works. that have come down to us. its claims to distinction are: many. it is a book of grammar dealing with phonetics, dialectal variations and the mechanics of early Tamis. it is a book of rhetoric discussing figures of speech, prosody and style. It attempts in addition to reach out £3. the truth behind aesthetic enjoyment and to enunciate. why and how poetry moves us. it is something more g it is a grammar of ancient Tamii (ife, analysing in detail the ideasised presentation of life that the poets of the time. have given us.
TOLKAPPłYAM distinguishes between what is factuai (a scăluci cupég) and what is idealised (girl-ā, ago) and says that the way of the poet is generally a blend of the two (Ltrt_5... Firsör g) 1 f30 S ET 5 Hilp55í$) . So, his analysis of the poetry of his time, while sketching for us the archetypes of Hife, invites our attention to the actual in the process of becoming the ideaf. It is this aspect of *TOi KAPPłYAft' that is discussed at ength in this book. Prof. N. . Subbu Reddiar has rendered carefully and thoroughly Toikappiyar’s account of Tami; iife as pictured in poetry. He tries to carify how Toikappiyar's distinction between "akam” (sy3th) and "puram' (i i puh) can be reconcifed with the idea, now a{most axiomatic, that ai} Hitera-: ture, chiefly poetry, is subjective. Referring to the various commentators on 'TOLKAPPixAM'. Prof. Reddiar throws light on some of the baffling “Sutras’ of Toikappiyar on symbolism and Suggestion in poetry and points out how rewarding it would beii a carefui coIIation could be made
