பக்கம்:முல்லைப்பாட்டு ஆராய்ச்சியுரை.pdf/15

17 other acts of courtesy and kindness they had extended to me. Mullaippattu is an ancient classical Tamil idyll of 103 lines sung in honour of the Pandian King Nedunchelian by his court bard Napputhanar. How Nedunchelian, once having gone on an expedition to. meet the combined forces of seven powerful kings in the field at Talayalanganam and routed them all in the fierce battle that ensued, returns with great splen- dour and magnificence and with trophies of victory to kiss his loveliest wife and how this beautiful maid- en that had been left alone in a country villa with a deep sorrow at the separation of her beloved husband, is lying down on her couch her chaste bosom heaving up with a sigh of consolation at his shortly expected return, are all related most vividly and very pictu-, resquely in this poem. The poem is remarkable alike for simplicity of thought, beauty of expression and noble sentiments. The imaginative hold which it has on the mind of the reader is strong and elevating. The in- terest of the plot is sustained throughout by the poet with great delicacy and subtlety that characterise a master mind. The rhythm and harmony of style vary every now and then and adhere closely to the digni- fied march of the sense, while the diction, though rugged at times, is, on the whole, chaste and elegant replete with genuine elements of Tamil. The Sans- crit words have mingled in it at the rate of two per 3