Sad Remembrance
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
tanneñcat temmaik kaṭikoṇṭār nāṇārko / lenneñcat tōvā varal.
He has shut me out of his own heart, keeping guard so I cannot enter. Has he no shame, then, coming into mine without a pause?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Me from his heart he jealously excludes: / Hath he no shame who ceaseless on my heart intrudes?”
“He excludeth me jealously from his heart: is he not ashamed then to show himself ceaselessly in mine?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தந்நெஞ்சத்து எம்மைக் கடிகொண்டார்= தம்முடைய நெஞ்சின்கண்ணே யாம் செல்லாமல் எம்மைக் காவல்கொண்ட காதலர்; எந்நெஞ்சத்து ஓவா வரல் நாணார்கொல்= தாம் எம்முடைய நெஞ்சின்கண் ஒழியாது வருதலை நாணார் கொல்லோ, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The woman says the man she loves has set a guard over his own heart so that she cannot enter it. And yet he himself comes into her heart without ever stopping. Has he no shame about that, she asks, half in play. On one side he gives her no place in his mind; on the other he walks freely into hers — Parimelazhagar lays out this one-sided rule. It is not a harsh charge but the sweet teasing of longing.