Medieval Myanmar | Reading Poetry from Bagan

[00:00:00]As the hot season revolts against the cold in the pattern of contrasts, the firmament becomes cloudy and winds are hot again.

[00:00:09]It is summer.

[00:00:11]Leaves on trees turn yellow to fall to show new leaves. Stems twist or break, yet sprouts on tama trees are now soft greens like parrot eggs.

[00:00:22]While in summer trees thirst in foothills, taz and flowers are climbing tabia [music] trees, effusing fragrance mixing with the wafting air.

[00:00:32]At sunset, crow pheasants are cooing and from afar come the cuckoo's notes. Now and again thunder is beating through heaven's expanses like lambara and dayindi drums.

[00:00:44]And I Oh, I think of the pouring of water on the bodhi tree and of the absent companion in the golden palace of victory.

[00:00:55]And I am mournful.

[00:00:59]This is probably one of my favorite poems ever.

[00:01:03]Um, it is from a Burmese poet from the medieval period. I got this translation from the book uh classical Burmese poetry and it lists the author as U Kyaw.

[00:01:13]Uh so I don't get the full name unfortunately and again it is from the medieval period so it's a little bit harder to track authors but this is a beautiful poem that is reminiscent of the landscape of Myanmar and of the religious culture at the time.

[00:01:29]So let's look at another poem from U Kyaw.

[00:01:33]Budding branches sway daintily in the winds, blooming forth into abundance.

[00:01:38]Red dappled white flowers of nanta and blooms of sandalwood sweetly scent the foothills. Summertime ends but it is not yet the season of rains.

[00:01:50]From the ground below rises cassia's overwhelming perfume while from above jasmine's small swinging branches, send down their fragrance.

[00:01:59]Climbing the forest trees, kabong flowers sway in the wind like rain-soaked silver strands.

[00:02:06]Later in the rains, their stems, too, will be all a silver hue.

[00:02:11]And in the valleys, surprisingly charming, too, are the strange flowers called by the villagers crocodile flowers.

[00:02:23]Here's a poem from a different medieval Burmese poet, May Khwe.

[00:02:28]The cheroot leaves I do not buy, but pluck myself.

[00:02:32]I do not dry them on the fire. I do not spread them in the sun. But for your smoking, I dry them under my bed clothing. And with my teeth, I trim these aromatic leaves.

[00:02:44]The cheroot I do not bind with silk, but with common cotton thread to give it truly to you, my youthful lover in Ava.

[00:02:54]In this poem, it is kind of fun to note that youthful lover can also translate to something like childhood sweetheart.

[00:03:01]It doesn't necessarily mean that the lover is much younger than the poet, but just that they might have been in love for a long time.

[00:03:10]Another note is that Ava is the capital of the um Burmese medieval kingdom of Ava. Let's read another love poem from U Kyee.

[00:03:20]Round our village, how pleasing to see growing in profusion like a nyaw creepers living among the paddy rows, with blue katauk, its fragrance filling the air.

[00:03:31]Surrounded here by such beauty, I cannot help missing my lover.

[00:03:37]Oh, how lovely the beautiful kazun creepers rocking gently on the water.

[00:03:41]And in the fields, blue water hens, mawklin, and si- sally birds are billing and cooing.

[00:03:47]Poor me, here alone midst this beauty, with my lover away, I am overcome with sadness.

[00:03:55]Now, too, the sky is overcast. Thunder heralds rain.

[00:04:00]Yet, if my lover were here, I would smile.

[00:04:07]>> But poetry from medieval Myanmar is not only about love and those sorts of things, but it's also about, of course, religion and the transients of things because that is something very important to Buddhist ideals, and the country is Buddhist or was Buddhist. Here's a poem from U Kyaw Tha Mi.

[00:04:25]>> In human life, we meet constant renewal.

[00:04:29]Slowly, like tree cotton, burning without ceasing, day after tomorrow and the next, one day after another day descends upon us, but there is no cooling of anguish.

[00:04:41]>> [snorts] >> Though the sun and the moon will not change in the future, always shall I seek succor, and seeking it, I shall fret. My anguish I try to forget, but no, day after day, anguish lingers. My tears run in a steady flow.

[00:04:59]Oh, softly dry them one by one with a best cloth of the sane.

[00:05:06]>> Finally, I want to read a very special poem from the Minister Ananta Thuriya, who served under several kings of Myanmar. Fascinatingly, this poem is considered one of the first instances where the monarchy was criticized.

[00:05:20]>> Often a man suffers destruction in order that another man might enjoy well-being.

[00:05:26]Such is the nature of things. A courtier's satisfaction in enjoying kingly confidences in golden palaces, and a king's own good fortune, are merely bubbles on the surface of a vast ocean, momentary and evanescent.

[00:05:44]If dictated by commiseration I were to be released and freed from execution, still I would not escape death.

[00:05:52]Inseparable am I from karma.

[00:05:54]All sentient beings being subject to dissolution.

[00:05:59]Respectfully, I salute His Majesty.

[00:06:02]Should I again meet my lord the king in one of my future rebirths in the cycle of samsara, begrudging him nothing, all I would do is lovingly forgive him.

[00:06:13]For impermanent is my body of blood.

[00:06:16]Danger and death are constant foes, and in this world must ever be.

[00:06:27]>> Ananta Thuriya actually wrote this shortly before he was executed. After the execution, the poem was brought to the king, King Sithu, and after reading it, the king proceeded to regret executing Ananta Thuriya, and said that the people should have brought this poem to him before he was executed. All of these poems come from the medieval/classical Burmese period, but the current country of Myanmar is worth talking about as well. I'd also like to clear up and say very quickly that the country has two names for a very good reason.

[00:06:58]In the Burmese language, there are registers of respect, and so there are ways of referring to someone respectfully and more on a casual level.

[00:07:07]So, in that same vein, [music] the country has two names. The casual name is Burma, and the official regal name is Myanmar. When European sailors first came to the country, they traded with people who obviously called the country Burma because they were using it on a more casual register. So, unfortunately, when the country was taken over by European forces, the European forces continued to call it Burma and neglected the more royal name of Myanmar. When the country gained its independence in 1948, it was followed by the longest civil war in recorded history that still ongoing today lasting almost 80 years in 2026. During that period the country of Burma decided to change its name officially to Myanmar, but that doesn't stop the effects of that the colonial presence had in Myanmar. And because of this unstable history Myanmar is now often in need of aid. Many humanitarian crises feel very far away, I think, especially if you live in America. I know this isn't one of the quote-unquote viral tragedies going on right now. And I really hate to use the word the term viral tragedies, but there really are like viral tragedies. I mean like the war in Ukraine, people know about that. The genocide in Palestine, people know about that. Um but there are also a lot of tragedies going on all around the world that people unfortunately don't know about. And I know it's hard to keep your eye on everything going on in the world, but by at least appreciating the poetry and culture and music and everything wonderful about these complex and fascinating cultures all around the world, at least you can come a step closer to recognizing the humanity in people who are often struggling. So, with that, thank you for watching, thank you for listening, and I'll also link the book that I got these translations from so you can read the entire anthology that they have translated in that book. They also have a glossary of the botanical terms that are used in the poems, which is really nice because they do use the uh Burmese terms in the translations even in English, so being able to have a glossary where you can look at the Latin scientific name is very helpful. So, again, thank you for listening, and I hope to see you in the next video.

[00:09:21]Bye.