Immortal poet of Colombo period

Rohana WANSATILAKA

Wimalarathna Kumaragama was an outstanding poet belongs to Colombo period. This remarkable poet passed away 49 years ago. But the interesting and meaningful poetry books written by him lives on in the hearts of connoisseurs. Kumaragama may be considered as an immortal poet. He rendered a great service for the betterment of Sinhala poetry.

Kumaragama was born on January 18, 1919, at Narampanawa in the Pathadumbara area. His primary education was at Rahula College, Katugastota. Later he entered to the Dharmaraja College, Kandy. This student excelled academically among other students in the class. Young Kumaragama got through the matriculation examination well. Later in 1942, he was recruited to the state clerical service. His first appointment was given to the Anuradhapura secretariat.

Later he was fortunate enough to win the examination which was held for enrolling divisional revenue officers. As a result of this victory, he was able to assume duties in the field. This talented officer served in many areas of the Island. Young Kumaragama began to impress those around him as a poet. He worked for a long period in the Vanni areas.

He gained more experience regarding people who lived in those areas. These experiences helped him to be a cut above other poets. His commitment to writing poetry is unbelievable. Kumaragama's poetic creations have drawn sustenance through rich experiences gained from the Vanni lifestyle.

Kumaragama had a compassionate heart. He also possessed a more imposing physical personality than other poets in the Colombo period. He had a vast knowledge regarding both Sinhala and English literature. He used his multitude of experiences absorbed from the Vanni areas to create poems. Kumaragama had a distinct ability to create prosodic poems. He wrote a class of poems named ‘Sanwega Darsana’ in 1935. Then in 1940, a collection of poetry named ‘Sanwega Wedana’ was written by him. ‘Hapumali’ is another mellifluous poetry book written by this poet.

Some distinct features could be noted in Kumaragama's anthologies. One of those features is sincerity. The sincere experiences gathered from the Vanni areas were incorporated into his poems.

Another feature that could be seen in Kumaragama's poetry books is humanism. He was a fine human being. This versatile poet loved the villagers, fauna and flora in the remote areas. In my view, he is only second to foreign writers like Leonard Wolf and R L Spittle in his humanistic writing. This poet is fond of the villagers in Aliyawetunwewa. The people who lived in this, had to face many difficulties. It was very difficult to find even a drop of water due to the severe drought in the area. People always struggled to maintain their day to day activities. Kumaragama had a good outlook to the realities of the people's lives in those areas.

He used simple language in his work. This simple language assist to generate suggestive meanings. The following poem is a good example.

“Weli maavath lesin ethi gan ho dolaya unusuma uraa bee gathi wewala jalaya thena thena gasaagena yanaviyalunakolaya giniyam sulanga thula eta ledakara balaya.”

This poem finely projects the environment which was burnt due to the severe drought. Kumaragama does not say directly that the land has dried out. River and streams are seen as sand avenues.

Although Kumaragama was a genius in the field of poetry, he was a bachelor. He had composed only a few poems related to pure love. Many poets belonging to the Colombo period have used impromptu verses. But, Kumaragama has neglected impromptu verses.

This veteran poet passed away on December 29, 1962 at 43. His demise is a great loss to the country. There may be poets in the future but, they will not surpass Kumaragama. Modern poets should study his creations and contribute to Sinhala literature.