出でてゆく君がためにと脱ぎつれば
我さへもなくなりぬべきかな
我さへもなくなりぬべきかな
- Roma-ji
-
Idete yuku kimi ga tame ni to nugitsureba
ware sae mo naku narinubeki kana - English Translation
-
For you who go forth,
I loosed and took it off—
this garment I gave;
so that I myself as well
might seem about to vanish.
- Meaning
- For you who depart for the provinces, I took off my garment to offer as a gift, and it is as though I myself might vanish as well.
- Commentary
-
Episode Forty-Four: "For you who go forth"
A certain man invited one who was leaving for the provinces to his house, wishing to hold a farewell banquet for his departure.
They were on close terms, and the lady of the house also appeared at the feast to offer cups of wine. A full set of her garments was presented as a gift.
This poem was tied by the man to the cord of the skirt among those garments.
The mo was a formal garment worn by court ladies from the Heian period onward, fastened at the waist and hanging at the back of the lower body.
Since it would seem ill-omened to pun on mourning at the departure of one so close, the act of loosening and giving the garment expresses instead a feeling that he himself would go along as well, as though he might vanish together with the gift.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Prev Poem
-
Io ōki shide no taosa wa nao tanomu
waga sumu sato ni koe shi taezu wa - Next Poem
-
Yuku hotaru kumo no ue made inubeku wa
akikaze fuku to kari ni tsuge kose