Review:

Sasobana Anganaovo :

Poetic saga of life

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

The latest collection of poetry entitled Sasobana Anganavo (The beauties) by Samanmali Padmakumara deals with a myriad of themes taken out of life. A significant aspect of her poetry is the candid voice and the simple yet metaphor-rich diction.

The poet resourcefully deals with themes such as love, nature and the horrendous consequences of the protracted conflict in an unassuming manner.

In the poem Ithin, the poet deals with the inevitable process of aging drawing comparisons from nature. In fact, the poet has skilfully used nature throughout the collection either to draw parallels or to reflect on the emotional status of the dramatic personae featured in poems.

In the poem Piriksima (Test), what the poet does is to highlight is that successful marriage is based upon not only kindness, intelligence and luck. In this narrative poem, the poet narrates how a Christian priest tests the intelligence of a newly married girl and at the end he blesses the girl extolling not only her beauty but also her intelligence and kindness which would ensure a successful marital life.

Nature

Siyum Vindanaya (sentiments) is a poem which deals with the marvels of nature. The narrator asks readers to feel the nature with closed eyes so that one may be able to experience the subtleties of nature.

Siyum Vindanaya

Lie down
With closed the wings of the eyes
Under the bush
Bending down to the earth
When the eyes are closed
Heart will blossom

The fragrance of flowers,
Mingled with the breeze
Across the vast earth,
With the scent of blades of grass and mud,
herbs
Would silently blow
Like a female monk in meditation

The murmur falls upon the ears
Of chirpings of the birds in the bush,
Of the trees embracing creepers,
Of the splashing of water by the fish's movements
On the surface
Of dead lives and branches falling on the earth"

Simple life

In the poem Pasupasata (Flashback), the poet recalls the time when people spent in terms of cents and simple life they led. Reflecting on the past, the narrator says that 'instead of delicacies, there is a bag full of medicine with heaps of worries and anxieties'. One of the salient features of the poems in the collection is that the poet's ability to explore deep philosophical ideas in an almost mundane context. One of such poems is Jeevana Suvanda (Fragrance of life).

The narrator effectively exploits the scene of a burning pyre to highlight the fact that the earthly body would perish leaving the one's fragrance of life or the scent of life in the heart and the minds of those who are near and dear to the one departed.

The pyre is a potent image particularly in Asian context and it signifies the end of one's life or death. The narrator speaks of the pyre in which the narrator's earthly body reduces to ashes.

Jeevana Suvanda (Fragrance of life)

The pyre is burning
The flames of fire roars
Burst into air
Thousands of flowers
Mingled with the smoke
With the wetted eyes of thousands
Red-orange-white flame
The smoke is think black

There burns my body
Only
The Lifeless
Bones,
Chunks of flesh,
Nails, hair,
the skin.

Thousands of people crying
Amidst graves
With tears oozing
Red-orange-white flame
The smoke is think black

My fragrance of life
Like your scent of life
Would not burn
And mingle with the smoke

In the horizon
In the space
Mingle our fragrance of life
Hovering everywhere
In the chamber of the grave
As well as out of it. "

Memories

What the poet seeks to stress is that one's memories of life would not burn with the pyre and would linger in the minds forever. The poet has effectively used the 'pyre' to explore philosophical ideas of life and death.

In the poem Aiyyith Ennena (It will never come back), the poet recalls her childhood spent in a pastoral countryside which has now become a highly urbanised area. The grotesque description of the poet is akin to a description of a village teeming with indigenous fruits such as Bakini. In a way poet recalls with an intense sense of nostalgia for the happy times which will never come back.

The poem Sadakalika Mithura (Eternal Friend) deals with death. The poet interprets death as an Eternal friend, who would accompany one from birth to the end of life.

According to the poet, the death is the only friend who is always with you and would not leave until the end of the life.

It is obvious that the poet's philosophy of death is, somewhat, similar to the one entertained by Sinhala poet laureate Mahagamasekara.

Consequence

The consequence of the protracted conflict which claimed thousands of lives and causing substantial damages to the economy, has been skilfully captured in the poem Yuda Gini Nisa (Because of the war). The poem is a poignant conversation between a soldier and his wife. The soldier is blind while his wife has lost her legs. The conversation reveals the devastating human cost of the conflict.

Yuda Gini Nisa (Because of the war)

Man:

I could only imagine
Your face
don't feel
you lost your legs

Woman

The feet trod upon
That fire

Man

I don't worry over my blind eyes
For, I see the world through
Your eyes

Woman

Though with sight
I lost my legs
Though you're blind
You stand on your feet

Man

I will take what you give .......

Both

Last month put off the flames
That engulfed the land
Don't feel hunger now
Because country is saved"

One of the recurrent themes of the collection, is nature. Often nature is aligned with the emotional State of the narrator. In the poem Rahasa (Secret), the narrator describes a moon-lit night with its sublime allure casting upon the lovers. The mounting emotions on the part of the lovers are resourcefully captured, in the form of moon-lit nature-escape against an oncoming breeze. In essence what the poet describes in simple yet metaphor-rich diction is the feast of nature which is

complimented by lovers' romance.

" The moon rays make golden carvings
On the thick curtain of darkness .......

Oh! Dear
Let us embrace in love
Enjoying the feast"

A significant feature of the collection is the poet's ability to deal with diverse themes with ease and facility. The apt metaphors have been sparingly knitted into the poems in an unassuming diction which is often demanded by the subjects. In realising the memories of the past in general and her childhood in particular, the poet has effectively transferred individual experiences into collective experiences of the milieu. The collection of poetry, Sasobana Anganavo (The Beauties) offers insights into the milieu, sometimes, expounding philosophical ideas.