Red Earth, Pouring Rain
Blessed are those who have a friend to discuss beautiful verses with.
Movie-makers, lyricists make it easy for poetry-lovers when they chose to incorporate words from ancient poems into nicely picturized modern hits. In a double dose of luck, a novelist (Vikram Chandra) chose imagery from this same ancient poem as the *title* of his book and suddenly everyone, with a ear for such things, got curious about the phrase.
Here is the lovely song from Iruvar which uses the phrase “our hearts mingle in love like Red Earth and Pouring Rain.” It comes from Tamil Sangam literature and the lyricist has used it in the last paragraph of the song. He, of course, has to write other lovely verse to build up to the beauty of that final one.
40. குறிஞ்சி (Kurunthogai poem)
யாயும் ஞாயும் யார் ஆகியரோ?
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம் முறைக் கேளிர்?
யானும் நீயும் எவ் வழி அறிதும்?
செம் புலப் பெயல் நீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாம் கலந்தனவே.
– செம்புலப்பெயனீரார்