It will be noticed that this example is a rhyme of three, rather than two words, although Maha: Sila: states in his introduction that only two words are involved in Separated Consonant Rhyme If one

compares Maha: Sila/s examples ip.14 in his book) with the examples listed on page 3 of Lak Ka:n

Tae:ng Wannakam Thaiy Lsa:n 'Fundamentals of Composition of Thai I:sa:n Literature' by Pra

Ra:chaphrom Jirayakhun, one will find that they are identical. (Within the latter book, however, they are listed as examples of 'Yoked-Word Rhyme,' a form of assonance.) In Fundamentals of Composition of

Thai Fsa.n Literature^ Maha: Sila:’s example of three words has been shortened to two. The author does

not consider the first word of the example, m)J (ka:n). to be^part of the rhvme and therefore does not place it in boid print.

12 This thesis deals specifically with Kauri A:n, a relatively simple style of verse. To appreciate the extent of classification work involved in a study of Lao versification, however one must realize that many of the other forms of Lao poetry are much more complicated.

Phraya Upakitsilapasan.13

In w ritin g the bo o k that has served as a guideline fo r Lao versification, Maha: Sila: W fraw ong has relied on scholarship o f Thai verse form s to decide w hat is and is not w o rth y o f being studied in making up those rules. Though the specifics of certain Lao verse form s in his bo o k necessarily differ from that o f the Thai, the types of p o etic rules under discussion are always the same. Lao p o e try fa r example, is examined fo r tone placement, rhym e w ithin and between poetic lines, alliteration and assonance, etc., all of which one w ou ld find sim ilarly in Thai scholarship on Thai poetry. On one level, taking Thai p o etic rules as a background fro m w hich to study and make com parisons w ith Lao literature is ve ry natural. Laos and Thailand have related languages, cultures, and literature, and the p o e tic form s o f the tw o can appropriately be examined fo r the same type o f characteristics. It should, however, be asked w hether Thai litera ry scholarship, as opposed to Thai poetry is an appropriate m odel fro m w hich to base a study of Lao literature. Traditionally, literary scholarship in Thailand has studied the p o e try of the royal court, a type of p o e try th a t had a different m e thod o f transcription, a d iffe ren t style and lo ca tio n o f perform ance, and a d iffe re n t inte nde d audience than did Lao literature. If Thai scholarship had concentrated on p o e try o f the com m on people, it w o u ld have served as a m ore relevant m odel from which to compare Lao verse. Jit Phu:misak's study on Lao poetic form s shows a greater insight in to the nature of Lao p o e try precisely fo r the reason that it was w ritte n in com parison w ith the oral p o e try o f Thai villagers.

In the book Osngka.n Chae:rtg N am b y Jit Phu:misak, the a u th o r describes the difference between p o e try that was intended to be heard and poetry that was intended to be read:

1 Similarities include the following: Maha: Sila/s book on versification was published as one of four books in a series on Lao grammar, each of which bears an identical title to a section devoted to a similar topic in the book by the Thai scholar. Several explanations in Maha: Sila/s work are identically worded to similar sections in the same study. The names of the specific poetic lines, as stated on page 96 of this chapter, were also apparently taken from this study rather than being indigenous to the Lao literary

o n.

tradition. Most importantly, the division of Lao verse into various complex types such as 0 ^

o o. ^ ^

(Wissuma-.li:), iJtniSXJ U liJ'lj) (Maha:sinthuma:li:) and (Khlo:ng Ha:) (which are not specifically the topic of this thesis), were influenced to no small degree by the division of Thai poetry into similar verse forms in the same book. A 1aha:ka:p Reu’ang Tha:w Ba: Jeu'a.ng' by Prakhaumg Nimma:nhe:min pp.202-205

Poetry that is strictly com posed according to a forced plan, that imposes fixed rules to control the m eaning and em otion o f an artist's creation, belongs to a later generation of poets These poets wanted the p o e try seen, wanted a p ro p e r and o rderly structure th a t was graceful to the eyes. They were n o t interested in h o w (the poetry) sounded, or if they were, they must have only w anted (the sound) to fit in to an o rd e rly fram ew ork, n o t to have small sounds p o ppin g up to tro u b le the ears "14

Thai litera ry scholarship focuses on the latter type of p o etry whereas Lao literature fits in to the former. The difference between the tw o different types of narrative is largely the difference between tw o mediums. In contrast to Lao literature, the com posers and audiences o f Thai court literature were largely restricted to an elite of nobles connected to the palace. Their level of education was higher than that of their Lao counterparts, w ho came fro m all levels of Lao society. The transcribers of Thai literature sim ilarly appear to have been connected w ith the court, and thus mistakes in the copying of texts, although existent, were likely to be less frequent than those made b y the copyists o f Lao works, w ho were com m only Buddhist novices of a very young age. A t the same time, perform ances of Thai w orks w ithin the royal cou rt d id n o t present the same distractions as d id the large and often inform al gatherings where Lao literature was read. There w ould therefore be less concern th a t the audience w o u ld n o t grasp the story's m eaning.15 O wing to the differences in the circumstances in vo lve d in the production, preservation, and consum p tion of Thai and Lao literature, the fo rm and content of the tw o was quite distinct. Thai court literature had less need fo r redundancy. It favored m ore esoteric w riting which displayed the education of the composer. This can be seen, fo r example, in the greater frequency in which Thai po ets em p lo ye d com plex p o e tic forms, th e ir use of erudite Khm er and Pali vocabulary, and th e ir invention o f lite ra ry words. A t the same time, the contents o f Thai court literature conform ed to very different standards o f a cce p ta b ility than that o f Lao literature, which was largely w ritten, transcribed, and perform ed on the village level. Characteristics o f Lao stories such as obscene humor, the degree of playfulness in the depiction o f the life o f the Buddha, and the allow able m ixtu re of non-B uddhist religious elements, such as belief in Tai spirits o r deities, w ith in religious

14 pp.191-192 ’

5 Descriptions at the nature uf the composers, transcribers, performance, and audience of Thai