The Solitary Anguish
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
nacaiiyār nalkāreṉiṉu mavarmāṭ / ṭicaiyu miṉiya cevikku.
Though the man I long for grants me no kindness, any word at all that is spoken about him is sweet to my ear.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Though he my heart desires no grace accords / to me,”
Editors' note: our transcription of Pope for this couplet breaks off mid-sentence and carries only the first clause. We show exactly what our source holds rather than complete it from memory, so read Aiyar and the modern translation for the second half — that any word at all spoken about him is sweet to her ear.
“Even if the beloved is unkind to us, any message that cometh from him is sweet to the ear.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நசைஇயார் நல்கார் எனினும்= என்னால் நச்சப்பட்ட காதலர் என்மாட்டு அன்பிலரே ஆயினும்; அவர் மாட்டு இசையும் செவிக்கு இனிய= அவர் திறத்து யாதானும் ஓர் சொல்லும் என் செவிக்கு இனியவாம், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar takes this as the woman's own words. She begins by granting the worst of it: the man she desired has no love towards her. What he then adds is the precise part. Any word whatever spoken in the matter of him, he writes, is sweet to her ear. He does not limit it to words the man himself has said; he widens it to anything said about him at all. That one widening is what makes the couplet exact — the bare mention of a person who gives nothing is itself the pleasure.