lyricists whose works combined native folk songs and the mystic poetry of the medieval vachanas and kirthanas with influences from modern English romantics. D. R. Bendre, with his collection of 27 poems including such masterpieces as Gari ("Wing", 1932), Nadaleele (1938) and Sakhigeetha (1940), was perhaps the most outstanding Kannada lyricist of the period. His poems covered a wide range of themes including patriotism, love of nature, conjugal love, transcendental experiences and sympathy for the poor. Govinda Pai narrated the story of Christ's crucifixion in his work Golgotha (1931). The success of this work encouraged Pai to follow with three panegyrics in 1947; Vaishakhi, Prabhasa and Dehali, narrated the last days of the Buddha, God Krishna and Gandhi respectively. His Hebberalu ("Thumb", 1946) dramatises the story of Drona and Ekalavya, characters from the epic Mahabharata. K.V. Puttappa ('Kuvempu'), who would subsequently become Kannada's first Jnanpith awardee, demonstrated great talent in writing blank verse with his magnum opus Sri Ramayana Darshanam (1949). This work marks the beginning of modern Kannada epic poetry. The work, through the use of metaphors and similes, focuses on the concept that all living creatures will eventually evolve into perfect beings. Other important works of the period are Masti's Navaratri and P. T. Narasimhachar's Hanathe. D. V. Gundappa's Mankuthimmana Kagga ("Dull Thimma's Rigmarole", 1943) harkened back to the wisdom poems of the late medieval poet Sarvajna. A celebrated writer of conjugal love poems, K. S. Narasimhaswamy won critical acclaim for Mysore Mallige ("Mysore Jasmine", 1942), a description of the bliss of everyday marital life. Growth in poetic drama was inspired by B.M. Sri's Gadayuddha Natakam (1925), an adaptation of Ranna's medieval epic. While Kuvempu and B.M. Sri were inspired by old Kannada, Masti and later P. T. Narasimhachar ('Pu. Ti. Na') explored modern sensibilities in their Yashodhara (1938) and Ahalye (1940). The 1930s saw the emergence of Sriranga, who joined forces with Samsa and Kailasam to pen some of the most successful plays in Kannada. Samsa completed his trilogy about Ranadhira Kantirava, a Mysore king of yore, with his Vijayanarasimha (1936) and Mantrashakti (1938). Kailasam's mastery over wit and stage rhetoric come to the fore in his Home Rule (1930) and Vaidyana Vyadi ("A Doctors Ailment", 1940) while he explores his serious side in Bhahishkara (1929); with Soole ("Prostitute", 1945), he unleashed his contempt for outdated quasi-religious mores. Societal ills were also examined in Bendre's Nageya Hoge