The Visions of the Night
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naṉaveṉa voṉṟillai yāyiṟ kaṉaviṉāṟ / kātalar nīṅkalar maṉ.
If only there were no such thing as waking — the lover who comes in my dream would never leave me.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“And if there were no waking hour, my love / In dreams would never from my side remove.”
“Oh that there were no waking state! For then my dream would never be cut short and my beloved would never depart from me.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நனவென ஒன்று இல்லையாயின்= நனவு என்று சொல்லப்படுகின்ற ஒரு பாவி இல்லையாயின்; கனவினாற் காதலர் நீங்கலர்மன்= கனவின்கண் வந்துகூடிய காதலர் என்னைப் பிரியார், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
If only that wretch called waking did not exist, Parimelazhagar explains, the lover who came and joined her in dream would never have parted from her. It is not the lover who parts, nor the dream that fails; it is the arrival of waking. She puts the waking state itself in the dock and wishes — knowing it impossible — that it simply did not exist.