Sad Remembrance
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viṭāatu ceṉṟāraik kaṇṇiṉāṟ kāṇap / paṭāati vāḻi mati.
Long life to you, O moon — only do not set, so that my eyes may still find the one who left, yet has never left my heart.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Set not; so may'st thou prosper, moon! that eyes may see / My love who went away, but ever bides with me.”
“O Moon! set not in the horizon, I pray thee, till my eyes look again upon him who, abiding still within my heart, hath yet parted from me.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மதி வாழி= மதியே; விடாஅது சென்றாரைக் கண்ணினால் காணப் படாஅதி= என் நெஞ்சின் இடைவிடாதிருந்தே விட்டுப்போயினாரை, யான் என் கண்ணளவாயினும் எதிர்ப்படும்வகை நீ படாது ஒழிவாயாக, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
She is speaking to the moon, Parimelazhagar explains. Having blessed it — 'long life to you, moon' — she makes one request: do not set. Do not go down until my eyes may somehow meet the one who has left with his body while never for a moment leaving my heart. Only while the moon's light lasts is there hope of seeing him; so the moon becomes the single witness standing between her eyes and him.