Sudar Thodi Kelai | Kalittokai 51 | Sangam poems with English translation

Kalittokai (Tamil: கலித்தொகை, aka Kalithogai, Kalithokai) is a classical Tamil poetic work and the sixth of Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. The anthology contains 150 poems written by various poets and was compiled by one of the authors named Nallantuvanar.

The Kalittokai anthology uses the kali metre of varied length. This metre is more advanced and complex than the akaval metre found in other Sangam poetry. The kali metre combines aciriyam and venpa, creating opportunities to set dialogues within the metre. The poets who composed the Kalittokai created what comes across as a "one-act plays", sometimes with "coarse, spicy, racy, rude, bawdy, or humorous" dialogues, states Zvelebil.

Audio source:    • 3 Sangam Poetry Kalithogai 51 :First ...