おきのゐて身をやくよりもかなしきは
みやこしまべの別れなりけり
みやこしまべの別れなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Oki no ite mi o yaku yori mo kanashiki wa
miyakoshimabe no wakare narikeri - English Translation
-
More than burning coals
That cling and burn upon me,
What is more sorrow—
Is the parting that must be
By the shore of Miyakojima.
- Meaning
- More painful even than burning coals clinging to the body is the sorrow of parting with you by the shore of Miyakojima.
- Commentary
-
115. Burning Coals
A man and a woman were living together in the Ōu region. When the man said that he wished to return to the capital, the woman became deeply sorrowful. At least wishing to hold a farewell banquet, she arranged a gathering at a distant embankment by the sea, at a place called Miyakojima.
The poem was composed by the woman as she served the man wine.
In former times, even when a man from the capital married a local woman, the woman was often unable to go up to the capital with him and was left behind when they parted. This poem expresses the woman’s sorrow at such a farewell.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Other
-
- Within this brief life That cannot last very long, To be forgotten— How exceedingly short Such a heart must surely be.
- Reproach me not That I seem like an old man. In my hunting robe, Only for this day, they say— Even the cranes cry so.
- From between the waves The eaves of a fisher’s hut On a little isle— Long it has become indeed Since I last met and saw you.
- Even I, seeing it, Find that long years have now passed— At Sumiyoshi shore, That fair pine upon the bank, How many ages has it known?