What is Poetry

Late Janamanchi Venkata Ramaiah

Those who are bereft of good education in literature
­and think that weaving verses is poetry are not men but
monkeys who mistake fireflies in a dark forest for tire
and try to bask in it in winter’s cold.

Poetry should not be like the parrots’ rote but must
delight the mind like the Kokils’ song giving bliss to
the soul.

What cannot be broken inspite of effort, what cannot be
bitten though our teeth are strong, what is insipid in
taste and pains the mouth if chewn too much, to such
poetic trends I bid good-bye with folded palms.

Poetry written without knowing the difference between what
is good taste and what is its imitation gives us only
gilted stuff which deceives us.

Like the little danceuse who wears the anklets of the
elders and acts amorous roles, the poet who describes
Without experience does not please the hearts of the
discriminating men of taste.

Poem must be fit for the idea, as otherwise it becomes
like a light inside a black pot; for the living soul
also if the outerbody is not good it does not allow
the light to shine out in full.

The poem without the idea is like the flower without
fragrance and like a lifeless painting and like a
Godless temple.

However sublime the idea of a poem, if it is not pleasant
to the ear it is not pleasant to the mind, the adage,
that however sweet a thing may be, what is not good to
the eye is not good to the mouth, is quite true.