Kurunthokai – 371
My friend! I too do not want bangles to slip out of my arms
Or my skin to become pale, thinking of my lover,
In whose cloudy hills wild rice is grown with water from falls;
My passion though, is immense.
கை வளை நெகிழ்தலும் மெய் பசப்பு ஊர்தலும்,
மை படு சிலம்பின் ஐவனம் வித்தி
அருவியின் விளைக்கும் நாடனொடு,
மருவேன்-தோழி-அது காமமோ பெரிதே.
Her lover from the hills hasn’t come to ask her hand in marriage as he promised. She is pining for him and is becoming sickly. Her friend says “Get out of this funk”. She replies to her friend “I too do not want my arms to be so weak that bangles slip out of it. Or pallor to spread across my skin. In my lover’s hills when people notice clouds encircling the hills, they sow wild rice, as they are sure that water from rain fed water falls will help them to harvest rice. Similarly I trusted him and fell in love with him. I still trust him. My anemic state is because of the passion in my heart, that is too immense to keep in check”
நெகிழ்தல் – weaken (and slip out)
மெய் – body
பசப்பு – pallor
மை படு சிலம்பு – cloud covered hill slope
ஐவனம் – mountain rice
வித்தி – sow
விளைக்கும் – grow
மருவேன் – மருவ மாட்டேன் – do not want to be
பெரிதே – immense
Old Tamil Poetry 