The origin and the development of Modern Sinhala Poetry; Re-examine route

causes focused on socio-cultural aspects

Jayantha Amerasinghe

The origin and development of the free verse movement in Sinhala poetry, is inextricably
linked with the socio-cultural upheavals in the 19th century. Many changes occurred in Sri
Lankan society after Sri Lanka became a full fledged colony of the British Empire. in 1815.
A commercial economy based on plantation agriculture was imposed upon a slow moving
simple rural economy, the mainstay of which was subsistence agriculture. A new class structure
emerged. A privileged national bourgeoisie merchant class emerged in the urban areas. A middle
class too sprung up to render supporting services, and to provide the administrative
underpinnings for this dominant class to function. In this class structure, the upper strata got the
opportunity to pursue an education through the English medium.
These changes gave birth to a new thinking process, which was quite different to the
traditional mode of thinking. The educational opportunities that were restricted to the privileged
few at the beginning began to spread among a wider section of the population with the
establishment of the University College in 1921. Thus, the foundation was laid for a gradually
expanding new ethos in the intellectual sphere.
These changes were instrumental in expanding the intellectual capacity of the Sri Lankan
elite, by weaning them away from the insular Island mentality. A whole new universe was
opened before them, which took them to new horizons so far unexplored.
Two major influences were evident in the intellectual field during this period. They were
the oriental thrust championed by oriental scholars and the western thrust promoted by the
scholars who imbibed their knowledge through the English medium.
The existence of pre-capitalist and capitalist modes of production simultaneously in the
economy, gave rise to these dualistic tendencies in the intellectual arena. It is always possible to
witness this dual mentality in a society where capitalist mode of production was super- imposed
on a feudal economy.
This dual mentality made a great impact on the Sri Lankan arts and literature.
This influence began to be quite evident in the fields of literature and arts in Sri Lanka by
the 1940's. In 1943 professor E. R. Sarachchandra published his epoch making critical analysis
of modern Sinhalese fiction under the title of Modern Sinhalese Fiction. This was the first ever
attempt to analyze a literary genre, by using universally accepted criteria of literary criticism. In
1950, B. A. S. Gunasinghe (Siri Gunasinghe) published an article in the Observer Annual titled
A New Note in Contemporary Sinhalese Poetry. In his article, he pointed out the severe
limitations and weaknesses of Sinhala poetry influenced by the national revivalist movement at
that time. The four line structure and the Samudra gosha metre of the traditional Sinhala poetry
which circumscribed the poetic expression and the conventional archaic language used in the
poetic composition were highlighted by Dr. Siri Gunasinghe as inhibiting factors of Sinhala
poetry.
1

G. B. Senanaike published in 1946 a short story collection Paliganeema. In it he included

eight compositions which he called some experiments between prose and verse. These works
closely resembled the free-verse style that was in vogue in the Western literature. Although there
exists a poetic mode called the free verse, it is difficult to recommend a common code of rules
and regulations for these compositions, unlike in the traditional poetry. But it does not mean that
the free verse movement is completely devoid of disciplining factors. But those factors are not
imposed by anyone else from outside; They are self-imposed disciplines by the poet himself.
Hence they differ from poet to poet, based on his individuality and his experiences. The structure
that is formed is also an independent creation of the poet himself. In a gi-poem or in a four line
verse, one can extricate the 'meaning' of the poem from the structure and introduce an entirely
different content to it. But in a free verse this is impossible. The structure of a free verse is
formed as a combined result of the ideas and soul of the poem. The language and the structure of
a free verse therefore differ from poet to poet. (Sekera 1985:211)
G. B. Senanaike gave voice to new and subtle poetic impressions, garbed in a new structure,
which was a complete departure from the old poetry. The Sinhala language which has been finetuned by him to write his short stories was used by G. B. Senanaike to turn out poetry, with
suitable modifications. The common notion is that Sinhala poetry was mired in archaic tradition
and obsolete ideas due to the indifferent attitude shown by the poets of the national revivalist
movement. "We have to call G. B. Senanaike as the pioneer of the free verse movement. It is he
who saved Sinhala poetry from a tradition which gave precedence to metre at the expense of
meaning and poetic feeling (Ranaweera 2002)
But there were earlier attempts to remedy this situation. Some of the verses written for
children by the early poets provide positive gleanings in the use of poetic language. HelaHowla, a literary movement pioneered by Munidasa Kumaranatunga also took issue with those
who gave pride of place to metre subverting the meaning.
"To make the last letter identical what distortions the poets inflict on the tree of verse.
When can the poets reconcile the metre, meaning and the poetic feeling into one composite
whole" (Kumaranatunga - 1947: 118)
Although such responses were made by G. B. Senanaike's predecessors, they were not very
much instrumental in forging a new poetic tradition.
There were two developments that G. B. resorted to, in developing his poetic language - the
potentialities of poetry developed by Western free verse poets and the language niceties
developed by contemporary prose writers. It was a combination of those two potentialities that
gave birth to the new poetic tradition pioneered by G. B. Senanaike.
"It was G. B. Senanaike who completely liberated himself from the old poetic tradition. He
thereby brought a revolution in the Sinhala poetic tradition" (Rajakaruna 1962: 17 a)
One cannot reduce G. B. Senanaike's contribution to merely a structural and conceptual
exercise. His endeavor was directed to capture the rapid transformation of the contemporary
social ethos, through his poetry. This was a historical necessity. The composition called 'Deviyan
Mareema' or Asassination of the God is a good example in this respect.
I who believed
Reason
Is my friend
One day
Waylaid
And
2

Murdered my God
I hear reason
The colossus
Pursuing me
In the dark
With heavy
Giant steps
But
I no longer
Can walk
Feeling secure
As of old
When God
Was
With me
When I
Fell down
Since
no God is present
I have to rise
On my own
(Senanaike 1978:45)
The mental state of a person who was a product of a society in which the dualistic trends of
capitalist and feudal modes of production prevail is revealed in this literary piece. The old world
thinking based mainly on religious sentiments start disintegrating in the face of new social
alignments and the new rationalistic thinking process. Although reality is given a new
interpretation through scientific deduction, the protagonist of the poem is not able to redeem
himself completely from the old world beliefs. The dual mentality which gives rise due to the
dualistic nature of the social structure is the source of this poem.
The contribution of G. B. Senanaike resulted in rousing a response among a limited section
of the Sinhala literati.
But a different approach to Sinhala poetry also sprung up as a reaction to this enthusiasm.
The pioneer of this nationalistic reaction was Martin Wickramasinghe. In 'his book titled Sahitya kalawa published in 1950, he included two verses of the religious treatise Theri gatha in free verse style. In 1952 he published a work called Theri gi including some more verses of
this treatise of religious poetry.
Although Martin Wickramasinghe used for his Theri gi the external structure of free verse it
was only a garb to re-introduce the religious perspective into Sinhala poetry, which was
beginning to cut a new path. This surely was going counter to the historic necessity of a new
poetry movement in Sri Lanka. The dominant themes of these religious poems are the
meaninglessness of worldly desires, and the praise-worthiness of expiating them. Martin
Wickramasinghe sought the assistance of folk poetry to buttress his efforts. "I translated Therigatha inspired by folk poetry for the balanced mature rural folk and the general intelligentsia"
(Martin Wickramasinghe 1952:2) this clearly indicates that by the 1950's modern Sinhala poetry
embarked on two divergent routes. One following the influences of world literature and the other
3

resorting to follow the indigenous heritage. The potential for such a situation was available in the
dualistic social structure explained earlier.
It was Siri Gunasinghe who immensely contributed to the free verse movement initiated by
G. B. Senanaike.
He tried to capture the various intricate shades of the industrial urban society through his
poetry. Siri Gunasinghe was widely acquainted with world literature. He drew immensely from
these sources in order to unearth the hidden dimensions of the individual psyche of the urban
man. His was a great contribution to the enrichment of the Sinhala poetic process. Siri
Gunasinghe had to invent a poetic idiom of his own since the available language was not
adequate for his poetic expression. But the paradox was that the reading public was not quite
ready to imbibe the subtle and deep nuances of Siri Gunasinghe's poetry.
That night, in the whole univers,
We two alone were alive,
Only the pale soft beams of nudity
Piercingthe haze of clothing;
Oh, how the irrepressible finger
That searched the hidden mysteries
Of twin bodies,
Met no foe.
Parted lips clung to parted lips,
Darkness, to darkness, nude to nude.
No space for even a splinter of cool air
When flesh pressed upon flesh.
Precious, is there an inch of my body
Untouched by your lips?
(Gunasinghe, 1988:40-41)
The traditionalists were alarmed by the fact that Siri Gunasinghe's poetry exposed the true
nature of modern society; its hide bound ideas and hypocrisies. They started to attack Siri
Gunasinghe's new wave by resorting to various stratagems. For some it was breach of tradition,
for others it was an infringement on morality. They even used invective against him.
By this time national consciousness has become the felt need of the ruling class. Political
power had been transferred to the local capitalist class, whose aim was to enjoy a pseudofreedom obtained from the colonial masters. This ruling class saw that the easiest way to
approach the common man was to extol the virtues of language and religion. This trend
invariably resulted in injecting a kind of national identity into Sinhala poetry.
This trend initiated by Martin Wickramasinghe saw its logical conclusion through Gunadasa
Amrasekara's poetry.
Although Amarasekera's poetic journey ended up in such a sad note, there were some
positive elements in his intervention. He was able to give voice to emotions that sprung up from
the primary consciousness of the rural pesantry. Andura saha biya (Darkness and Fear) Holman
Koodana Andura (The darkness that provokes ghosts) Unduwap Avilla (December Has Come)
are examples in this respect.
4

December Has Come

Close to the stile in the upper chena
At the edge of our little well
The mango trees are in bloom
Like a yellow cloth spread over.
Flowering December has come to rouse our limbs
Moon face, can't you see it's time
For the new-earth to flower?
The feet felt the green grass beneath
As if the earth has awakened suddenly
From a deep, long slumber.
The Erabodu leaves, full-fleshed and tender
Reminded me of the cheeks.
All these are sent to us to rouse our limbs
(Amarasekera,1955:20)
There were certain instances in Amarasekera's poetry that penetrated the dualistic nature of
the conciousness of the modem man. Kataragama, Ganga Langa Buduruwa, (The Buddha statue
by the river) bear testimony to this. All this indicates that Amarasekera can be recognized as a
modem poet, in spite of his bent towards nationalistic trends in the bulk of his poetry.
Mahagama Sekera also made his own contribution to modem Sinhala poetry from the
1960s onwards. But his best contributions were over shadowed by the much more popular but
sentimental, long narrative poem - Prabuddha (The Enlighthened).
The main difficulty one can discern in Sekara's poetry, including his best poetry, is his
search for an adequate poetic language. This was a problem encountered by almost all the poets,
right from the beginning of modem poetry. The best success achieved in this regard is in the
verses composed for his plays by Professor Sarachchandra. "It is no one but Sarachchandra who
is the foremost poet of our era" (Gamlath 1989)
The slow decline of Sinhala poetry from the heights it reached in the 1950's began in the
1960s. The national bourgeoisie, to whom the reins of government were transferred, depended
heavily on fanning the national consciousness for their survival. Sinhala was made the official
language and as a result the age of bilingualism began to wane. A new generation bereft of the
salutary influence of the world literature took its place.
The protagonists of the Sinhala poetic scenes in the 1970's sprang up within this social
milieu.
The dominant influence on the literary scene during this period came to be the so-called
Socialist realism. Social issues affecting society were also taking a turn for the worse. During
this decade the Sinhala poets who appeared on the poetic scene saw a panacea in Socialism for
all the ills affecting society. Their works became mere vehicles articulating this superficial
notion. The ultimate result of this development was the churning out of propagandistic didactic
verse far removed from actual reality.
Berty B. Kudahetti, a poet who composed poetry during this era, did not succumb to the
semi official literary doctrine of Socialist realism. He exhibited a broad social consciousness in
his poems. But due to the absence of a wholesome aesthetic sense, his poetry
was reduced
merely to theoretical exercises.
Sister
5

The war has started

Can you hear
The gunfire
Students are rising
They are writing
On the road
AB=BA
CP=PC
Isn't the clock running?
Dogs are charging
Barking at you
Toothless
Unable to bite
Union leaders
Meeting the progressives
another broad front
For whom is it?
For the bureaucrats
(Kudahetti,1975:47)
This major conflict which severely affected the aesthetic
consciousness was operative during the 70's. In fact the poetry turned out during this era was
mere prosaic statements. However with all these entanglement$ with the ideological
controversies in some compositions of Parakrama Kodituwakku, one could glean glimpses of
cultivated poetic diction.
It is not wrong to identify the 70's as a period which experienced a decline in Sinhala
poetry. Although poetry saw an upsurge in numbers and range, they lacked the overall aesthetic
finesse. One poet who attempted to arrest this decline was Dayasena Gunasinghe.
The talent displayed by Dr. Sarachchandra in the composition of dramatic verse was
introduced lyrical poetry by Dayasena Gunasinghe. His poetic base was enrich not only by the
local traditionbut also through his knowledge of world literature.
When the carnival lights
Shine
Dispelling the darkness
The grassy carpet
Among the chatty trees
Become the bed
Oh you woman
Who is the earth
When you embraced me
Like the sky
And shed
Your attire and modesty
Alike
It was a spectacle
6

Your body rising to the skies

In burning passion
Released lightning
That swallowed the dark precipice
Cruel impulses
Born along with creation
Reawaken in us
Aggressively
(Gunasinghe,1982:24)
The lonley effort of Dayasena Gunasinghe was not strong enough to arrest the downward
trend of Sinhala poetry, as it was an end result of objective and organic reasons. When, by the
80's, Capitalist social structure, with its overpowering technological upsurge, was bending the
entire world to its total domination, Sinhala poetry was turning towards an increasingly insular
attitude in its expressions. The language used for poetry descended from folk idiom to the
language of the provincial dialects. The island mentality was taking a still narrower path into
regionalism.
The sun that's
Blowing up fire
To the sandy compound
The white saree giving shade
To the ruined milk teeth
What bells when
Biscuits too are over
At school?
Lines are forgotten
In school songs
Why let your milk
Run dry mother
We are so thirsty
(Wijesinghe 1985 :24)
By the 80's the model followed by most of the aspirant poets was this narrow regional trend
both in its language and its human content.
Three poets who strived to raise Sinhala poetry from this monotonous trend were Eric
Illayapparachchi, Ariyawansa Ranaweera and Nandana Weerasinghe.
Eric Illayapparachchi transcended the traditional poetic mode and tried to grasp the
contemporary reality in some of his creations.
An unknown gunman kills Wijaya Kumaratunga. (A politician who was
assasinated.)
(A news item)
Death rushed out
Armed with
7

The 'chakra'
My fair friend
Cries hiding
In the woods
It is not I
Who did it
I want to
Say aloud
They came after me too
Knowing who I am
My mother who
Prostrates before
The holy lamp
Waits near the
The stone fence
With tear
Sorrowed face
Like a she-cobra
Waiting for
Poison - gathering
Darkness to come

(Ilayapparachchi,1996:64)

But unfortunately his efforts were not given their due recognition.
The free verse movement, which was a by product of the developments that took place in
world literature, became an insular trend which evinced mainly regional influences during the
1970's. This was the outcome of social and political changes that occurred during this period. In
the 80's which could be described as the third phase of this movement, the declining trend
continued despite the unsuccessful efforts of a few poets with an understanding of foreign
literature to prevent this predicament.

References
1.
2.
3.
4.

Amarasekera, Gunadasa,. 1955 Bhawa Geetha,

Colombo: m. D. Gunasena saha Samagama.
1957, Uyanaka Hinda Liyu
Kavi, Maharagama: Saman Prakashakayo
1961, Amal Biso, Gampaha:
Sarasavi Prakashakayo.
1962, Gurulu Wstha, Gampaha:
Sarasavi Prakashakayo.
8

5.

1975, Avarjana, Colombo;

Pradeepa prakashakayo.
6.
1996, Sinhala Kawya
Sampradaya, Boralesgamuwa: visidunu Prakashakayo
7. Gamlath, Sucharitha,. 1989, Sarachchandrabhinandana, Colombo: S. Godage Brothers.
8. Gunasinghe, dayasinghe, 1982, Novandim Siduhath, Auther publication
9.
Gunasinghe (Siri) B. A. S., 1950, The New Note in
Contemporary Sinhala poetry in Observer Annual,
Colombo: Lake House.
10.
1956, Mas Le Nethi Eta, Maharagama: Saman Prakashakayo
11.
1958, Abinikmana, Maharagama: Saman Prakashakayo
12.
1962, Rathu kekula, Maharagama: Saman Prakashakayo
13.
1998, Beyond Words, Colombo:
The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
14. ILayapparachchi, Eric
1996, Vesathuru Sirithak, Colombo; S. Godage Brothers.
15. Kodituwakku, Parakrama, 1975, Aluth Minihek Evith, Colombo; S. Godage Brothers.
16. Kudahetti, Berty B. 1977, Sepeni Sepawewa, Sambhawya Prakashana.
17. Kumaranatunga, Munidasa,. 1947, Virith Vekiya, Colombo: Ariyadasa Poth Hawula.
18. Rajakaruna, Ariya,. 1962, Nuthana Sinhala Kawya, Maharagama: Saman
Prakashakayo
19. Sarachchandra, E. R., 1943, Modern Sinhalese Fiction, Colombo; M. D. Gunasena &
Co. Ltd.
20. Sekera, Mahagama,. 1977, Prabudhdha , Colombo: Lake House Investments &
Company ltd.
21. Senanaike, G. B., 1946, Paliganeema (Reprint in 1978) Colombo; S. Godage Brothers.
22. Wickramasinghe, Martin,.1950, Sahitya kalawa, Colombo: Mount Prakashakayo
23.
1952, Their Gee, Colombo: Mount Prakashakayo
24. Wijesinghe, Rathnasri, 1985, Vassane, Colombo; Samgi Prakashakayo.