The Distress of Her Beauty
.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
kūṟṟamō kaṇṇō piṇaiyō maṭavara / ṉōkkamim mūṉṟu muṭaittu.
One look can arrive carrying several things at the same time: it wounds, it attends to you, and it flinches away. The speaker asks three times what it was and never settles on an answer.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The light that on me gleams, Is it death's dart? or eye's bright beams? / Or fawn's shy glance? All three appear In form of maiden here.”
“Is it Death that I behold or simply eyes? or is it the look of the gazelle? for all three are to be found in the glance of this artless one.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கூற்றமோ= என்னை வருத்துதல் உடைமையான் கூற்றமோ; கண்ணோ= என்மேல் ஓடுதல் உடைமையான் கண்ணோ; பிணையோ= இயல்பாக வெருவுதல் உடைமையான் பிணையோ? அறிகின்றிலேன்; மடவரல் நோக்கம் இம்மூன்றும் உடைத்து= இம்மடவரல் கண்களின் நோக்கம் இம்மூன்றன் தன்மையையும் உடைத்தாய் இராநின்றது.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Is it death, since it torments me? Is it an eye, since it runs over me? Is it a doe, since it startles and shies away by nature? I cannot tell. The glance of this young woman's eyes holds the quality of all three at once, Parimelazhagar explains.