The Visions of the Night
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kaṉaviṉā ṉuṇṭākuṅ kāma naṉaviṉā / ṉalkārai nāṭit taraṟku.
There is joy for me in dream — for it seeks out the man who gives me nothing in waking, and brings him to me.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Some pleasure I enjoy when him who loves not me / In waking hours, the vision searches out and makes me see.”
“Dream giveth me all the joys of love: for it bringeth back to me my beloved who refuseth to pity me in my waking state.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நனவினான் நல்காரை நாடித் தரற்கு= நனவின்கண் வந்து தலையளி செய்யாதாரை அவர்சென்றுழி நாடிக்கொண்டுவந்து கனவு தருதலான்; கனவினாற் காமம் உண்டாகும்= அக்கனவின்கண்ணே எனக்கு இன்பம் உண்டாகாநின்றது, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The man who never comes to her in waking, Parimelazhagar explains, the dream goes after — travels to wherever he is, finds him, and brings him back to her. That is why her joy is born inside the dream itself. Here the dream is no passive picture; it performs a task waking has failed at: the seeking, the finding, the delivering.