Lamenting At The Eventide (By St. Thiruvalluvar) Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

1221. O Time! You are not the Eve but the final hours
To take the life of the divided wedded lovers.
1222. O darksome Eve! You too lament! I hail thee!
Is your spouse also cold-hearted like that of mine?
1223. The shivering pallid-hued evening
Causes disgust in life with growing sorrow.
1224. When my spouse is absent, this evening comes to ruse my life,
Like a killer in a slaughter-house.
1225. O Morn! What good did I do you to win your grace?
O Eve! What harm did I do you to enhance my pain?
1226. I wasn’t aware that the hours of Eve would enhance my pain
After my wedded lover parted from me.
1227. This love-sickness like a flower is in bud in the morning,
Matures all through the day and bursts open in the evening.
1228. The sweet music of the shepherd’s flute scorches me now.
It is the messenger of the Eve and the tool to kill me.
1229. Clouding my wisdom, the evening comes and gives me pain.
As darkness grows, the whole hamlet is beset by woes.
1230. Thinking of my spouse who parted from me to earn wealth,
My undying soul expires in the darkening evening hours.