Speaking with the Heart
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ceṟṟāreṉakkai viṭaluṇṭō neñcēyā / muṟṟā luṟāa tavar.
Heart, have we it in us to call him an enemy and let him go — the man who does not draw near, though we do?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“O heart, as a foe, can I abandon utterly / Him who, though I long for him, longs not for me?”
“Though he spurneth us in spite of our cleaving unto him, can we give him up as an enemy, my Heart?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நெஞ்சே= நெஞ்சே!; யாம் உற்றால் உறாஅதவர்= யாம் நம்மையுறத் தாமுறாத நம் காதலரை; செற்றார் எனக் கைவிடல் உண்டோ= வெறுத்தார் என்று கருதிப் புலந்து கைவிட்டிருக்கும் வலி நமக்கு உண்டோ, இல்லை, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar turns the line into a question about her own strength. Him whom we draw near to, and who does not draw near to us: have we the force to decide that he has come to hate us, to sulk, and to let go of him? His answer is flat. No, we have not. The commentator does not defend the man and does not praise her constancy; he reports that the clean break is not within her power.