குறுந்தொகைப் பாடல்களில் கவிதை மொழியும் அழகியலும்: மொழிக் கட்டமைப்பு, உளவியல் ஆழம், மௌனத்தின் அழகியல் — ஒரு விரிவாக்கப்பட்ட ஆய்வு

Poetic Language and Aesthetics in Kuruntokai Poems: Structure, Psychological Depth, and the Aesthetics of Silence — An Extended Study

Abstract

Kuruntokai, the second anthology among the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) of Sangam literature, is a remarkable collection of short poems dealing exclusively with akam (interior/love) experience. Comprising roughly 401–402 poems ranging from two to ten lines, the anthology renders the subtle dimensions of human emotion through a highly condensed poetic form. Although grounded in the akam conventions of the Tolkappiyam, Kuruntokai poets do not follow those conventions mechanically; instead, they create distinctive emotional landscapes within the five-tinai framework — Kurinji, Mullai, Marutham, Neithal, and Palai. This study extends existing scholarship — which has concentrated largely on tinai classification and hero–heroine ethics — by examining how linguistic compression itself becomes an aesthetic strategy, how ullurai uvamai (implicit metaphor) and iraichi (suggested meaning) transform natural imagery into psychological expression, and how deliberate narrative silence invites active reader participation. The paper argues that Kuruntokai achieves exceptional poetic intensity through compression, suggestion, and silence, offering a model comparable to later short-form poetic traditions worldwide.