Sulking
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tuṉiyum pulaviyu millāyiṟ kāmaṅ / kaṉiyuṅ karukkāyu maṟṟu.
If neither the grown quarrel nor the young one is there, love is like fruit whose moment has gone past, and like the raw green fruit that has not yet come to it.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Love without hatred is ripened fruit; / Without some lesser strife, fruit immature.”
“If there were no frowns or pets on the part of the beloved, love would miss its fruits and its half-growns.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
முதிர்ந்த கலாம் ஆகிய துனியும், இளைய கலாம் ஆகிய புலவியும் இல்லையாயின்; காமம் கனியும் கருக்காயும் அற்று= காமம் செவ்விமுதிர்ந்த பழமும் இளங்காயும் பொலும் எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar assigns each of the two quarrels a degree: துனி is the matured one (முதிர்ந்த கலாம்) and புலவி the young one (இளைய கலாம்). If both are absent, he closes, love 'செவ்விமுதிர்ந்த பழமும் இளங்காயும் பொலும்' — it resembles a fruit whose right moment has already passed and a green unripe one. The addition matters: he does not write simply 'fruit', but fruit whose செ வ்வி, its proper moment, is already behind it. That is what keeps both halves of the comparison on the same side. Neither fruit is at its stage, and neither is a compliment.