of the forest country. The formation of some causative verbs like (
Tamil characters), (Tamil characters) (to cause to become clear). Some verbal nouns were: formed by adding to roots the suffixes which are used in inodern Tamil to produce different senses,—கிழக்கு (pit), முன்பு (strength), பறை (iving), இலம் (poverty), புகல் (abode), பொய்ப்பு (lying), நம்பு (noun), {(Tamil characters) (brightness), and so on. Some of the adverbial and other particles which were freely in use during this period have become obsolete. They are (Tamil characters), (Tamil characters), (Tamil characters), (Tamil characters), (Tamil characters), தஞ்சம், குரை, மோ, மதி, இகும், இசின், உந்து, etc.
The literature of this period is all poetry—simple blank verse in chaste classic style devoid of rhetorical flourishes, figures of speech, hyperbolic descriptions, and intricacies of later prosody which mar the excellence of modern Tamil poems; Asiriyappa, Kalippa, Venba, and Kuratpa are the metres mostly used. The descriptions of events and scenery are all faithful and true to nature.
The subject matter of most of these works is the panegyric of reigning kings, descriptive of their military prowess, their liberality, and their administration. Some of them depict poverty, chiefly of bards, in a very pathetic manner. Some are on morality, while only a few relate to religion. We subjoin a few specinen of early Tamil.
(1)இல்லுணாத் துறத்தலி னின்மறந் துறையும்
புல்லுளைக் குடுமிப் புதல்வன் பன்மான்
பாலில் வறுமுலை சுவைத்தனன் பெற அன்
கூழுஞ் சோறுங் கடைஇ யூழி
