The Wasting Away
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muyakkiṭait taṇvaḷi pōḻap pacappuṟṟa / pētai perumaḻaik kaṇ.
A thread of cool air found its way between us while we were holding each other, and that was enough: the great rain-dark eyes of that trusting girl lost their colour.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As we embraced a breath of wind found entrance there; / The maid's large liquid eyes were dimmed with care.”
“But a single breath of wind cut its way between us during our embrace, and the blood fled at once from her large eyes that are full even as the rain-cloud.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
முயக்கிடைத் தண்வளி போழ= அங்ஙனம் கைகளை ஊக்குதலான் அம்முயக்கிடையே சிறுகாற்று நுழைந்ததாக; பேதை பெருமழைக்கண் பசப்புற்ற= அத்துணை இடையீடும் பொறாது, பேதையுடைய பெரிய மழைக்கண்கள் பசப்புற்றன; அத்தன்மையவான கண்கள் மலைகளும், காடும், நாடுமாய இவ்விடையீடுகளை எல்லாம் யாங்ஙனம் பொறுத்தன, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Because the arms had been let go slack, Parimelazhagar explains, a small current of air got in between them. She could not bear even that much of an interruption, and the large rain-dark eyes of the young woman lost their colour. He ends on the question that follows: how have eyes like those borne the interruptions standing between them now, which are mountains and forests and whole countries?