みちのくのしのぶもぢずり誰ゆゑに
みだれそめにし我ならなくに
みだれそめにし我ならなくに
- Roma-ji
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Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri tare yue ni
midare somenishi ware naranaku ni - English Translation
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In Michinoku, the shinobu-rubbed pattern—
for whose sake did it begin to tangle? It was not I who did so.
- Meaning
- The twisted pattern of shinobu-rubbing from Shinobu in Michinoku is tangled again and again; just so, my heart has begun to be thrown into turmoil—not by anyone else’s doing but yours alone.
- Commentary
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Episode One: "Shinobu no midare"
Like “Like the pale young purple of Kasuga Plain, / a robe rubbed with dye—my hidden thoughts are tangled beyond all measure,” this poem is composed by likening a heart that cannot remain at peace from longing to the tangled pattern of shinobu-rubbing.
In the narrative, it appears alongside the above poem from long ago as a verse of the same purport.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Prev Poem
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Kasugano no wakamurasaki no surigoromo
shinobu no midare kagiri shirarezu - Next Poem
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Oki mo sezu ne mo sede yo o akashite wa
haru no mono tote nagamekurashitsu