The influence of Eliot’s “Waste Land˜ on Siri Gunasinghe’s “Mas Le Nethi Eta”

Abstract

Siri Gunasinghe could be identified as a poet who was subjected mostly to argumentation within the Sinhala poetic field. His maiden poetic composition titled, “Mas Le Nethi Eta” is considered a land mark in the Sinhala poetic field. He succeeded in signifying his own identity, approaching a different turn than the independent device which prevailed in the second poetic generation of Colombo era and also that was introduced by G.B. Senanayake. When considering the motivational temperament of Gunasinghe enabling to create such a revolutionary change, it appears that a fundamental concentration should be extended towards western poetic tradition. “The Waste Land”, the poetic text composed by the famous modernist American poet T.S.Eliot could be considered an important compilation in this context. This poem illustrates the psychic tragedy of the urbanite centered in a busy life style disowning all legitimate belongings in the social system. It appears that the poetic techniques found in “The Waste Land˜ is mostly used by Siri Gunasinghe in his “Mas Le Nethi Eta˜ composition. Similarly, the subject matter, the configuration, the vision of life and poetic techniques which are used by T.S.Eliot in his poem have been used by Siri Gunasinghe too in his composition. Therefore, it is possible to compare the two poems and identify the influence of T.S.Eliot’s “The waste land” on Siri Gunasinghe’s poem, “Mas Le Nethi Eta.”