The Visions of the Night
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naṉaviṉāṟ kaṇṭatūu māṅkē kaṉavuntāṉ / kaṇṭa poḻutē yiṉitu.
Seeing him in waking was sweet just while I saw him; the dream, too, is sweet just at the moment of seeing. To me they are the same.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As what I then beheld in waking hour was sweet, / So pleasant dreams in hour of sleep my spirit greet.”
“The joys of the dream last as long as the beloved appeareth in it: and what more can be said of the waking state?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நனவினாற் கண்டாதூஉம் (இனிது) ஆங்கே= முன் நனவின்கண் அவரைக்கண்டு நுகர்ந்த இன்பந்தானும் இனிதாயிற்று அப்பொழுதே; கனவுந்தான் கண்டபொழுதே இனிது= இன்று கனவின்கட் கண்டு நுகர்ந்த இன்பமும் அக்கண்டபொழுதே இனிதாயிற்று, அதனான் எனக்கு இரண்டும் ஒத்தன.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The joy she once tasted seeing him in the flesh, Parimelazhagar explains, was sweet exactly at the moment of seeing — and today's joy of seeing him in dream was likewise sweet exactly while it was seen. Both are sweet only in their own instant; the instant past, both alike are memory. So, she concludes, the two stand equal for her — the waking sight held no more permanence than the dream.