Nallathor Veenai - Translation

Having created a beautiful Veena, do you throw it away to dust?
Tell me, O Shivashakthi!
You have blessed me with a fiery intellect
Would you not bestow upon me the strength,
So that my fibre be of a purpose to this land?
Tell me, O Shivashakthi!
Would you make me a live burden on this earth?

Like a ball that darts past,
I beseech you for a body that obeys the command of my heart,
An impregnable mind,
A life that glows anew.
The mortal flesh, be it set afire,
I bespoke for a soul that would still sing your praise.
A stabile mind, I pleaded for
What checks you from blessing me with these?

Subramaniya Bharathi's work depicting his vanity and an outcry at his own incapability to rid the world of anguish. This work of his finds no parallels and stands aloft in the genre of lamentation with self-esteem.
The original song in Tamizh: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~vasur/nallatoor.html