POEM FROM TAMIL LITERATURE - TWO ADVERSARIES

ABOUT THE POEM: The poem TWO ADVERSARIES depicts a young man of noble birth who faces two distinct challenges in his life. The first enemy is the women who are captivated by his charm as he grapples with the attention and affection of women causing their eyes to lose their sparkle and their arms to become thin. The second enemy is the villagers from a rival land who despite their usual feasts now live in fear of the son’s war elephants invading their village and drinking from their spring thus leading to a state of fear and displacement among the villagers by the thought of the encroaching war who once lived peacefully. The poem juxtaposes the personal and societal struggles of a young prince who is an all-pervading personality and a man of brain and brawn.  TWO ADVERSARIES Two adversaries stand against him, The youthful successor of my chief, His chest, a broad canvas of strength, Adorned with blossoms of thumbai, freshly bloomed, His arms, long and unyielding. One adversary, the women, Bewitched by his allure, Their eyes, dark as night and blooming like flowers, Fade in their brilliance, Their arms, once full, now slender. Secondly, the inhabitants of the rival soil, once indulging in feasts of rice and mutton even on non-festive days now desert their abodes, fearful of marauding war elephants that may pillage their springs. NOTE: thumbai - Leucas aspera, a plant species within the genus Leucas and the family Lamiaceae is found throughout India and the Philippines as well as the plains of Mauritius.