Eyes Worn Out with Grief
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katumeṉat tānōkkit tāmē kaluḻu / mitunakat takka tuṭaittu.
All at once, of themselves, they looked; and now, again of themselves, they sit and weep. There is something in this fit to be laughed at.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The eyes that threw such eager glances round erewhile / Are weeping now. Such folly surely claims a smile!”
“They looked on him straightway of their own free will that day, and today they weep of themselves: how they make themselves ridiculous!”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தாம் கதுமென நோக்கித் தாமே கழுலும் இது= இக்கண்கள் அன்று காதலரைத் தாமே விரைந்து நோக்கி இன்றும் தாமே இருந்து அழுகின்ற இது; நகத்தக்கது உடைத்து= நம்மால் சிரிக்கத்தக்க இயல்பினை உடைத்து.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
It was these eyes that looked at the beloved in a rush that day, and they did it of their own accord, with nobody telling them to. Today the weeping is theirs too, says Parimelazhagar, and equally of their own accord. They have done both things themselves. His conclusion is that there is in this a quality we may laugh at. What arrives here is not anger but amusement.