Speaking with the Heart
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iruntuḷḷi yeṉparita ṉeñcē parintuḷḷal / paitaṉōy ceytār kaṇil.
What comes of sitting here, heart, remembering him and aching? In the man who gave this wasting sickness there is no such remembering, and no pity.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“What comes of sitting here in pining thought, O heart? He knows / No pitying thought, the cause of all these wasting woes.”
“What availeth our sitting here and pining away for thinking of him, O my Heart? He that caused us this grief remembereth us not.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நெஞ்சே இருந்து உள்ளிப் பரிதல் என்= நெஞ்சே! அவர்பாற் செல்வதும் செய்யாது, ஈண்டு இறந்துபடுவதும் செய்யாது இருந்து அவர் வரவுநினைந்து நீ வருந்துகின்றது என்னை; பைதல் நோய் செய்தார்கண் பரிந்து உள்ளல் இல்= இப்பையுள் நோய் செய்தார்மாட்டு நமக்கு இரங்கி வரக்கருதுதல் உண்டாகாது, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar sets out the three things the heart could do and shows it is doing none of them. It does not go to him; it does not let go and end here; it sits where it is, thinking of his coming and hurting. What is that for, she asks it. And the second line closes the door: in the man who made this pallid sickness there will be no thought of us with pity, no intention to come. The commentator will not allow the possibility to be left half-open.