Cameron 1 Garrett Cameron Dr.

Nirmal Selvamony MUS 414 24 March 2011 Analyzation and Comparison of Elegy for the Coming of Winter by Tristan Tzara to Tamil Poetry Tristan Tzara was, among other things, a French/Romanian poet who was associated with the Dada and Surrealist movements in the early 1900s. Most of his poems are written in these styles and are comparable to other poems by poets such as Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, and Paul Eluard. However, Tzara's poem Elegy for the Coming of Winter, being written at an earlier time, does not have a full avant-garde treatment. For the sake of convenience, it is inserted below:

Beloved, (listen) the poplars lament your going And I think: so long as you aren't chilly Take thick clothes and lots of books to read (One night you'll find a withered lily)

I know how things will turn out: (comedy) I'll catch a clean handkerchief To weep all my sadness in, I'll cough in it too because I'll have caught cold Then I'll float it in the air when you are far away-honest thought And I'll remember another time when I looked for another girl

10

in the streets * * *

Cameron 1 Think about it: perhaps no one will await you there And you'll weep, and regret, life is sad, sad You'll always remember the handkerchief floating Unleashing a terrible wind in your garden 15 Laying the paths bare, uprooting the thought that brings you back home.

Listen to my wise advice Stay near the table and sew in silence You haven't finished your silk dress yet Listen to my wise advice * 20 Beloved-winter is coming and you are leaving And the old horse rotten in the garden No longer has mane or ears; I wait for the full moon To leap in the saddle and rush after you, light (Understand...) (Caws 108-109)

This paper will analyze the poem above as if it were written in the Tamil tradition. It will also show similarities and differences between the two cultures' poetry. The techniques used for analyzing Tamil poetry can help the reader find a deeper level of meaning in Elegy for the Coming of Winter. The broadest way to start the analyzation would be to figure out if Elegy for the Coming of Winter is an inner or an outer poem. Because it only involves two people, it can be assumed to be an inner poem. These two people correspond to the hero and heroine in Tamil poetry, as they are the most

Cameron 1 important characters. Another important aspect is the tinai. Words and phrases such as lament your going (line 1), weep all my sadness in (6), life is sad (12), uprooting the thought that brings you back home (15), you are leaving (20), and rush after you (23) all suggest that this is a person who has lost his or her lover and wants him or her back. Therefore, the tinai would most likely be coastal, where the woman wants the return of the man, or arid, where the couple have already separated (Selvamony 2). Because this distinction is somewhat vague in the poem, it may be a mixture of both. In the Tamil tradition, the woman is the one who usually wishes the return of the man. What makes this poem interesting to analyze in this way though is the fact that the roles have been reversed; the man is the one who wants the woman to return. There are a couple phrases that help determine this conclusion- when I looked for another girl(9) and sew in silence/You haven't finished your silk dress yet (17-18). The main character is addressing his beloved (1), a woman, on the assumption that the character is straight, i.e. a man [looking] for another girl (9), and that it is a woman who is making a dress to wear. Also, men usually carry handkerchiefs, which are mentioned twice in the poem- I'll catch a clean handkerchief (5) and You'll always remember the handkerchief... (13). These phrases describe different images and emotions that are found in everyday life. Most, if not all, Tamil poems also use images taken from everyday life. Some of these in Elegy for the Coming of Winter, such as poplars (1) and lily (4), may help define the tinai through environmental context clues. Others indicate the kaalum, winter (in the title and line 20), and the meyppaaTu, sorrow (Selvamony 3-4). Elegy for the Coming of Winter is also similar to Tamil poetry in that it does not show the entire scene. It uses suggestion and only hints at the situation being

Cameron 1 described. From what the reader is given, the scene appears to show the mental anguish of a lover. This state of mind is a common theme in some Tamil poetry, albeit from a woman's point of view (Nayagam 73). Again, this is an interesting poem to analyze because of its non-traditional circumstance. The man usually departs from the woman in the pursuit of wealth. Here however, the woman has left the man for reasons not stated, which relates back to the use of suggestion in poetry (Nayagam 75). Yet another element binding this poem with Tamil poetry is its form-an elegy. Ancient Tamil Poetry states, on pages 81-82, that A French scholar has remarked...that in all ancient Indian literature, it is only Tamil poetry which contains a number of laments and elegies. The Tamil poem 41 in Kuruntokai by Anilatumunrilar is a decent example of one of these elegies. It features the same problem faced by the main character in Elegy for the Coming of Winter. This character, assumed to be the heroine, grieve[s] alone (7) when her lover, he (8), is gone. She compares herself to a lonely house left by it people (4). The mood of the last half of this poem, as evidenced by these phrases, is definitely sorrow. However, poem 41 differs from Tzara's poem in terms of the tone set at the beginning. The heroine is filled with joy (2) when [her] lover is near (1). She is like a city in festival (3). But, as stated above, the tone darkens later when the hero leaves, much like Elegy for the Coming of Winter (although its the departure of the heroine in this poem). The word winter in the title suits the poem extremely well. The coming of winter means the death of most plants, unable to survive in the icy temperatures. It can also refer to the ending of relationships, like the one in the poem. Overall, winter is associated as a dismal season. This melancholy is felt throughout Elegy for the Coming of Winter. Like many Tamil poets, Tzara successfully captures the mood and feelings involved in a separation of two people previously

Cameron 1 romantically linked. The similarities between Elegy for the Coming of Winter and Tamil poetry are plentiful, despite the hero and heroine role difference. Analyzing this poem in the Tamil tradition can show the reader an even greater depth of understanding. Would the reader benefit by putting other poems under this cross-cultural microscope? Hopefully so, as this paper has tried to demonstrate. Using a nontraditional technique to analyze poetry is not only interesting but also useful, as new perspectives may shed light on different shades and nuances of meaning.

Cameron 1 Works Cited Anilatumunrilar. 41. Kuruntokai. Print. Caws, Mary Ann. Approximate Man and Other Writings. Boston: Black Widow Press, 2005. 108109. Print. Nayagam, X. S. Thani. Ancient Tamil Poetry. Eastern Horizon. 1966: 73, 75, 81-82. Print. Selvamony, Nirmal. Tamil Idea of Art: Part 2. 2-4. Print.