Eyes Worn Out with Grief
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vārākkāṟ ṟuñcā variṟṟuñcā vāyiṭai / yāraña ruṟṟaṉa kaṇ.
When he does not come they do not sleep, watching the road for him; when he comes they do not sleep, dreading the parting. Either way my eyes have taken a grief past bearing.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“When he comes not, all slumber flies; no sleep when he is there; / Thus every way my eyes have troubles hard to bear.”
“My Eyes sleep not when he is away, neither sleep they when he is returned: either way it is their lot to suffer unceasing pain.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
வாராக்கால் துஞ்சா= காதலர் வாராத ஞான்று அவர் வரவுபார்த்துத் துயிலா; வரின் துஞ்சா= வந்த ஞான்று அவர் பிரிவஞ்சித் துயிலா; ஆயிடைக்கண் ஆர் அஞர் உ்ற்றன= ஆதலால் அவ்விரு வழியும் என் கண்கள் பொறுத்தற்கு அரிய துன்பத்தினை உடைய.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says that on the days he does not come her eyes do not sleep, because they are watching the road for his arrival. On the day he does come they do not sleep either, because the fear that he will leave again will not let them. So both states leave the same thing behind. A grief past bearing has come to her eyes. What the couplet fixes is that neither state is the better one.