Lamenting at Evening
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kālai yarumpip pakalellām pōtāki / mālai malarumin nōy.
This affliction buds at daybreak, thickens into a full bud through the whole of the day, and comes into flower at evening.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“My grief at morn a bud, all day an opening flower, / Full-blown expands in evening hour.”
“This sickness buddeth in the morning, goeth on opening its petals the livelong day, and standeth full-blown at eventide.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இந்நோய்= இக்காமநோயாகிய பூ; காலை அரும்பி= காலைப்பொழுதின்கண் அரும்பி; பகல் எல்லாம் போதாகி= பகற்பொழுதெல்லாம் பேர்அரும்பாய் முதிர்ந்து; மாலைமலரும்= மாலைப்பொழுதின்கண் மலராநிற்கும், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads the suffering of this love as a flower. At morning it appears as a small bud; through the whole daytime the bud thickens and ripens; at evening it stands fully open. Implicit in that is the point that it does not begin in the evening. It begins at first light, grows all day, and only reaches its full size at dusk.