Lamenting at Evening
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aḻalpōlu mālaikkut tūtāki yāyaṉ / kuḻalpōluṅ kollum paṭai.
The herdsman's flute has become the messenger of an evening that burns like fire, and the weapon that kills me when it arrives.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The shepherd's pipe is like a murderous weapon, to my ear, / For it proclaims the hour of ev'ning's fiery anguish near.”
“They call it the pipe of the shepherd, but verily it is a murderous weapon to me: for it ushereth in the evening that burneth me so.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
ஆயன் குழல்= முன்னெல்லாம் இனியதாய்ப் போந்த ஆயன்குழல்; அழல்போலும் மாலைக்குத் தூதாகி= இதுபொழுது அழல்போலச் சுடுவதாய மாலைக்குத் தூதுமாய்; கொல்லும்படை= அது வந்து என்னைக் கொல்வுழிக் கொல்லும் படையும் ஆயிற்று, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The herdsman's flute used to be a sweet sound, Parimelazhagar explains. Now the same sound has become the announcement that an evening which burns like fire is on its way. And it does not stop at announcing: when that evening arrives and kills her, she says, the flute is the blade it kills her with. The sound has not changed; what has changed is what it now brings with it.