Eyes Worn Out with Grief
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peyalāṟṟā nīrulanta vuṇka ṇuyalāṟṟā / vuyviṉō yeṉka ṇiṟuttu.
Having set standing in me a grief there is no living through and no getting free of, my dark eyes have run so dry that they cannot even rain.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Those eyes have wept till all the fount of tears is dry, / That brought upon me pain that knows no remedy.”
“After bequeathing to me the incurable grief that consumeth me, my Eyes have now dried up, having exhausted their store of tears.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
உண்கண்= உண்கண்கள்; உயல் ஆ்ற்றா உய்வுஇல் நோய் என்கண் நிறுத்து= அன்று யான் உய்யமாட்டாமைக்கு ஏதுவாய ஒழிவில்லாத நோயை என்கண்ணே நிறுத்தி; பெயலாற்றா நீர் உலந்த= தாமும் அழுதலைமாட்டாவண்ணம் நீர் வற்றிவிட்டன.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The woman is speaking about her own eyes. Parimelazhagar explains that they brought into her, and left standing there, a distress from which there is no way out. She cannot come through it and it is not going to end. Those same eyes, which handed her all of that, have now dried up. There is so little water left in them that she could not weep even if she wanted to.