Waiting for the day
When my world will be my own—
Today or tomorrow—
Which rises higher, I wonder:
This fall or my tears that pour?
- Meaning
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I wait, wondering whether the day when the world will turn in my favor will come today or tomorrow, yet it never comes. Which is higher, I wonder—this waterfall, or the cascade of my tears?
- Commentary
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87. Even a Boxwood Comb
There was once a man who lived in the village of Ashiya in the province of Settsu (present-day Hyōgo Prefecture), because he had lands there through family connections. The man held no great rank and only loosely served at court, so deputy officers of the Imperial Guards often gathered there. The man's elder brother was also the head of the Guards, and they would wander about the seashore before the man's residence.
One day the elder brother suggested that they go to see the Nunobiki Waterfall high in the mountains, and so they climbed the mountain. The waterfall was unlike ordinary ones: the water slid down a stone surface about twenty jō (roughly sixty meters) in length and five jō (about fifteen meters) in width. Where the water struck protruding rocks along the way, it broke apart and scattered into droplets about the size of mandarins or chestnuts. Those who were present were asked to compose poems on the waterfall.
The first poem was composed by the man's elder brother, the head of the Guards.
The poem laments the poet’s own lack of fortune in life. Perhaps it is a frank poem that could be spoken because he was among brothers and close companions.
The elder brother who composed the poem, the head of the Guards, was Ariwara no Yukihira, the elder brother of Ariwara no Narihira. This poem is also included in the Kokinshū as a poem by Yukihira.
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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