‘Apart from universal human themes, ever present in Burmese poetry is an intense expression of a spiritual way of life and ethical experience. The profound active humanism of the common man is verbally outlined in a form which often turns their poetry into music. That is why the Burmese lyrical art with centuries-old traditions, rich and variegated, arouses a wondering and eager interest.

Burmese poetry has for me a quite special significance. A people of rich and responsive human sympathy, the Burmese are very gifted as a race. They built Pagan, a striking testimony to their spiritual insight. A nation which has such capacity possesses inexhaustible possibilities…‘

Friedrich V. Lustig

Great Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon, 1966

View this document on Scribd

Further Reading:

Rama Thagyin (Songs from the Ramayana) – 1870 Parabaik (Folding book)

People of the Golden Land – Daw Mi Mi Khaing, The Atlantic, 1958

The Early Art of Burma – Thaw Ka, The Atlantic, 1958

Online Burma Library:

Classified and annotated links to more than 40,000 full text documents

The Journal of Burma Studies

From Panegyrics to the End of Poetry (A Laconic Introduction to Burmese Verse):

Ko Ko Thett, Poetry International, January, 2012