Lamenting at Evening
மாலை நேரம் காதலரின் பிரிவை ஒரு போர்க்களமாய் மாற்றித் தாக்குவதாக இரங்குதல். — Twilight (மாலை) arriving like an executioner, intensifying the agony of separation.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
kātala rilvaḻi mālai kolaikkaḷat / tētilar pōla varum.
“When absent is my love, the evening hour descends, / As when an alien host to field of battle wends.”
“When the beloved is away, evening approacheth even as the executioner advancing to the execution-ground.”
With the one I love not here, evening comes the way strangers come into a killing-ground — with no bond to me at all, and with my life as its errand.
Ask about this Kural
Answers are drawn only from this Kural's sourced text and named commentary, and always cite what they used.
Choose a section
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மாலை= காதலர் உள்ளபொழுதெல்லாம் என்னுயிர் தளிர்ப்ப வந்தமாலை; காதலர் இல்வழி= அவரில்லாத இப்பொழுது; கொலைக்களத்து ஏதிலர் போல வரும்= அஃது ஒழிந்துநிற்றலேயன்றிக் கொல்லுங் களரியிற் கொலைஞர் வருமாறு போல அவ்வுயிரைக் கோடற்கு வாராநின்றது, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
When my beloved was beside me, dusk brought nothing but sweetness; now in his absence, it arrives as a grim execution ground that claims my life.