The Pleasures of Temporary Estrangement
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ūṭuka maṉṉō voḷiyiḻai yāmirappa / nīṭuka maṉṉō virā.
Let her go on sulking, she of the bright jewels; and so that I may go on pleading with her, let this night stretch out and not come to its dawn.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Let her, whose jewels brightly shine, aversion feign! / That I may still plead on, O night, prolong thy reign!”
“Oh, let me enjoy her frowning and her pouting a little more! Only let night prolong her reign at my prayer.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
ஒளியிழை ஊடுகமன் = ஒளியிழையினை உடையாள், இன்னும் எம்மோடு ஊடுவாளாக; யாம் இரப்ப இரா நீடுகமன்= அங்ஙனம் அவள் ஊடிநிற்றற்கும், அதனை உணர்த்துதல் பொருட்டு யாம் இரந்து நிற்றற்கும், காலம்பெறும் வகை இவ்விரவு விடியாது நீட்டித்தல் வேண்டுக எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads the couplet as one man making two wishes. He points at his beloved as ஒளியிழையினை உடையாள், the woman who wears the bright jewel, and the first wish is that she should go on sulking with him. The commentator's added word is worth noticing: இன்னும், still, further. What is asked for is the continuance of something already happening, not the beginning of anything. The second wish is not addressed to her. It is addressed to the night. So that she may go on standing in her sulk, and so that he may go on standing there entreating her to give it up, time is needed, and for that this night must not break into dawn but draw itself out. His phrase for the reason is காலம்பெறும் வகை — in such a way that time is got. Two things follow from his gloss and are easy to lose. The man is not impatient for the sulk to end; and he is not asking that she stay displeased either, because the whole purpose of his pleading, in the commentator's own words, is to get her to leave it off. What he asks for is one thing only, and it is a long night.