Old Tamil Poetry

Kurunthokai – 290

Those who advice me to endure the pain of love,
do they even know about it? Are they so strong?
As for me, if I don’t see my lover,
with my heart swelling in grief,
like a spray of foam
dashing on rocks in high tide,
bit by bit I cease to exist.

‘காமம் தாங்குமதி’ என்போர்தாம் அஃது
அறியலர்கொல்லோ? அனை மதுகையர் கொல்?
யாம், எம் காதலர்க் காணேம்ஆயின்,
செறிதுனி பெருகிய நெஞ்சமொடு, பெருநீர்க்
கல் பொரு சிறு நுரை போல,
மெல்லமெல்ல இல்லாகுதுமே.

This Kurunthokai poem is about a girl pining for her lover. He hasn’t come to see her in a long time. Her friend asks her to be strong and bear the pain. In reply she says “those who talk about  enduring the pain know nothing about it. May be they think they are strong. But I am not. If I don’t see him soon, I will pass away  due to my grief”.

The simile used in this poem is remarkable. In high tide, the foaming waves dash on rocks and slowly dissipate and vanish. She says she too will cease to exist like that foam.

பெருநீர் is explained as great floods by U Ve Saminatha Iyer. Others too have followed the same meaning. However I think it makes sense as waves in high tide. This poem is in நெய்தல் திணை(the coastal landscape), where waves make more sense as a simile. பெருநீர் also means ocean. Hence I have taken பெருநீர் as high tide.

Kurunthokai – 102

If I think of him, my heart aches;
to not think of him, is beyond me;
my love pains me and grows sky high;
the man I love, is not a honorable guy.

உள்ளின், உள்ளம் வேமே; உள்ளாது
இருப்பின், எம் அளவைத்து அன்றே; வருத்தி
வான் தோய்வற்றே, காமம்;
சான்றோர் அல்லர், யாம் மரீஇயோரே.

Poem written by Avvayar. Her lover hasn’t come to see her in a long time. She is lovelorn. Her friend asks her not to fret. This is her answer to her friend. “I can’t think of him, I can’t not think of him. My love sickness grows by the day. But he hasn’t come as he promised. He isn’t some one who keeps his words.”

In the first sentence வேமே – வேகுமே – is normally translated as ‘burns’. I have used ‘ache’ as it fits better than burns here. வே also means distress according to Chennai University dictionary.

Kurunthokai – 43

Thinking “he won’t go” I was aloof;
thinking “she won’t agree” he was aloof too;
our big egos led us to bicker then;
my pained heart wallows in misery now,
as if from a Cobra’s sting.

”செல்வார் அல்லர்” என்று யான் இகழ்ந்தனனே;
”ஒல்வாள் அல்லள்” என்று அவர் இகழ்ந்தனரே:
ஆயிடை, இரு பேர் ஆண்மை செய்த பூசல்,
நல்அராக் கதுவியாங்கு, என்
அல்லல் நெஞ்சம் அலமலக்குறுமே.

This poem was written by Avvaiyaar, the leading poetess of Tamil Literature. Written 2000 years ago, it is as relevant today as it was then. This poem is a lament of how we let our egos erect walls in a relationship.

She thought he won’t go. So she kept quiet and didn’t ask him not to go. He thought that if he told her, she won’t let him go. So he kept quiet and didn’t tell her that he was going away. They both did not do what was needed to keep the relationship. This cold war naturally led to a tiff and he left. She laments  “because of our egos both of us bickered and now my heart suffers as if stung by a Cobra”. Why does she compare the pain of separation to a snake bite? A snake bite pains till one’s death. Similarly this pain of his going away will not alleviate till her death.

நல் அரா – Cobra / snake
கதுவு – grip ( a Cobra stings and holds on to the victim)
அலம் – misery
அலக்கு – move about (wallow)