目には見て手にはとられぬ月のうちの
桂のごとき君にぞありける
桂のごとき君にぞありける
- Roma-ji
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Me ni wa mite te ni wa torarenu tsuki no uchi no
katsura no gotoki kimi ni zo arikeru - English Translation
-
Seen with my own eyes,
Yet never held in my hands—
Like the moon’s laurel
That stands within the bright moon,
So indeed are you to me.
- Meaning
- Though I can see you with my own eyes, I cannot take you into my hands. You are like the laurel tree said to stand within the moon.
- Commentary
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73. Seen with My Own Eyes
There was a woman whose situation he knew, yet he could not even send her a letter.
The poem was composed by the man as he thought of her.
A similar poem appears in the "Mutual Love Poems" section of Book Four of the : "Though I see her with my eyes, I cannot take her in my hands—like the laurel within the moon, what shall I do with such a beloved?"
Women who had entered the court as imperial consorts, or who served as Saigū or Saiin, were in positions where their whereabouts were known but they were not people with whom one could freely correspond or exchange letters. The woman the man longs for is likely someone in such a special position.
The "laurel within the moon" refers to a Chinese legend that a laurel tree grows within the moon.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
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