The Wasting Away
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paṇainīṅkip paintoṭi cōrun tuṇainīṅkit / tolkaviṉ vāṭiya tōḷ.
These arms, which lost their old beauty when their companion went away, have now lost their fullness as well, and the bright bangles slip from them of themselves.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“When lover went, then faded all their wonted charms, / And armlets' golden round slips off from these poor wasted arms.”
“The arms that lost their wonted comeliness at the parting of the beloved, are now grown so thin that their very bracelets slip off from them of themselves.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
துணை நீங்கித் தொல்கவின் வாடிய தோள்= அன்றும் துணைவர் நீங்குதலான் அவராற்பெற்ற செயற்கை அழகேயன்றிப் பழைய இயற்கை அழகும் இழந்த இ்ததோள்கள்; பணை நீங்கிப் பைந்தொடி சேரும்= இன்று அதற்கும்மேலே தம் பெருமையிழந்து வளை கழலாநின்றன. இவை இங்ஙனம் செயற்பாலன அல்ல, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that these arms had already suffered two losses. When her companion withdrew, they lost not only the beauty that had come to them through him but the older, natural beauty that had been hers before that. Today something further has happened: their girth has gone and the bangles come off by themselves. These arms, he ends, ought not to be doing this.