Reading the Signs
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
kaṇkaḷavu koḷḷuñ ciṟunōkkaṅ kāmattiṟ / cempāka maṉṟu peritu.
The quick look someone gives you when they believe you cannot see it carries more weight than the declared, expected closeness that follows. The couplet does not call it half of love; it calls it more.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The furtive glance, that gleams one instant bright, / Is more than half of love's supreme delight.”
“The furtive lightning glance that is turned on the lover the moment that his eyes are turned aside, is not merely the half of love: it is more than a moiety.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கண் களவு கொள்ளும் சிறு நோக்கம்= இவள் கண்கள் யான் காணாமல் என்மேல் நோக்குகின்ற அருகிய நோக்கம்; காமத்தில் செம்பாகம் அன்று பெரிது= மெய்யுறுபுணர்ச்சியின் ஒத்த பாதியளவு அன்று, அதனினும் மிகும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads this couplet as the man speaking to himself. He explains that the rare, small look the woman throws at him with her eyes without his seeing it is not equal to half the measure of physical union — it exceeds that union.