The Pleasures of Temporary Estrangement
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ūṭip peṟukuvaṅ kollō nutalveyarppak / kūṭaliṟ ṟōṉṟiya vuppu.
The savour that arose in that embrace, in which her forehead grew damp — shall we come by it again, through her sulking once more?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“And shall we ever more the sweetness know of that embrace / With dewy brow; to which 'feigned anger' lent its piquant grace.”
“Verily, will she give some piquancy to the delights of our embrace by just feigning a quarrel for some time?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நுதல் வெயர்ப்பக் கூடலில் தோன்றிய உப்பு= இதுபொழுது இவள் நுதல் வெயர்க்கும்வகை கலவியின்கண் உளதாய இனிமையை; ஊடிப் பெறுகுவம் கொல்லோ= இன்னுமொருகால் இவள் ஊடி யாம்பெறவல்லேமோ, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar starts from the second line. His gloss reads: the sweetness that was there in the union just now, in the manner of her brow sweating. Two things are fixed by that. The moment is past — இதுபொழுது, just now — and the sweetness was actually had, not imagined. Then he gives the man's thought: இன்னுமொருகால் இவள் ஊடி யாம் பெறவல்லேமோ — once again, might she sulk and might we be able to get it? The route to the sweetness runs through her sulking, so the sulk is what he finds himself wishing for. And the commentator ends on ability, not on expectation: are we able to get it. He does not write that they will. The couplet stops inside that not-knowing, and the not-knowing is where its tenderness sits.