Lamenting at Evening
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puṉkaṇṇai vāḻi maruṇmālai yeṅkēḷpōl / vaṉkaṇṇa tōniṉ ṟuṇai.
Long life to you, bewildering evening — you look stricken yourself. Tell me: is the one who keeps you company as pitiless as mine?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Thine eye is sad; Hail, doubtful hour of eventide! / Of cruel eye, as is my spouse, is too thy bride?”
“Thou lookest melancholy and pale, O Eventide! Pray, tell me, dear, is thy lover also cruel even as mine?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மருண்மாலை= மயங்கிய மாலாய்; புன்கண்ணை= நீயும் எம்போலப் புன்கண் உடையாய் இருந்தாய்; நின் துணை எம் கேள் போல் வன்கண்ணதோ= நின் துணையும் எந்துணை போல வன்கண்மையுடையதோ, கூறுவாயாக, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Bewildering evening, you too are stricken as I am — that, Parimelazhagar explains, is what she says. Then she asks a question rather than stopping at the observation: is the one who keeps you company as pitiless as mine is? Tell me. She guesses that the evening's dimmed look must come from a grief like her own, but she puts the guess as a question and not as a verdict.