Pining and Complaint
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kāmak kaṭaṉmaṉṉu muṇṭē yatunīntu / mēmap puṇaimaṉṉu mil.
There is a sea of desire, and it is certainly there. The float that would carry me safely across it — that, just as certainly, is not.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“A sea of love, 'tis true, I see stretched out before, / But not the trusty bark that wafts to yonder shore.”
“There is a very sea before me in my passion for my beloved: but a trusty bark to cross it there is none for me.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
உண்டு காமக்கடலே மன்னும்= யாவர்க்கும் உளவாய் வருகின்ற இவ்விரண்டன்உள்ளும், எனக்குண்டாகின்றது காமக்கடலே; அது நீந்தும் ஏமப்புணை மன்னும் இல்= அதனை நீந்தும் அரணாகிய புணை இல்லை.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The couplet sets two things side by side and says that one is present and the other is not. Of the two that come to everyone, Parimelazhagar writes, what has come to her is the sea of love alone. The float that would have served as her protection in swimming it has not come with it. The danger has arrived in full, and the means of getting across has not arrived at all.