Desire for Reunion
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eḻutuṅkāṟ kōlkāṇāk kaṇṇēpōṟ koṇkaṉ / paḻikāṇēṉ kaṇṭa viṭattu.
Like the eye which has seen the kohl-stick often enough and yet cannot make it out at the moment it is being drawn along the lid — I have seen my lord's fault in every place where he was not, and where I see him, I see none.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The eye sees not the rod that paints it; nor can I / See any fault, when I behold my husband nigh.”
“Even as the eye seeth not the blackness of the pencil when it is being painted, even so I see no blemish in my beloved when he is near.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
எழுதுங்கால் கோல் காணாக் கண்ணேபோல்= முன்னெல்லாங் கண்டிருந்தும் எழுதும் காலத்து அஞ்சனக் கோலின்இயல்பு காணமாட்டாத கண்ணேபோல்; கொண்கன் பழிகண்டவிடத்துக் காணேன்= கொண்கனது தவறு, காணாதவிடத்தெல்லாம் கண்டிருந்து, அவனைக் க்ணடவிடத்துக் காண மாட்டேன், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The eye being painted has seen the kohl-stick at every other time. Only at the moment of the stroke can it not make out what the stick is like. In the same way, I have seen my lord's fault in every place where I did not see him; only in the place where I have seen him am I unable to see it.