ゆく年の惜しくもあるかなます鏡
見る影さへにくれぬと思へば
見る影さへにくれぬと思へば
- Roma-ji
-
Yuku toshi no oshiku mo aru kana masukagami
miru kage sae ni kurenu to omoeba - English Translation
-
how I regret it
the year that now is passing on—
in this polished mirror
even the reflected self
seems to fade into the dusk
- Meaning
- How regretful it is, the passing year—for even the image I see in the mirror seems to fade away.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Winter Poems
This poem was composed when the poet was commanded to present a poem.
Here, “to fade” (kurenu) carries both the meaning of the year coming to its end and of the light dimming into darkness. As the reflected self in the mirror appears to grow older year by year, the poet laments the passing of time. Placed at the end of the winter poems, it also evokes a sense of overlapping between the end of the seasons and the end of life.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Kinō to ii kyō to kurashite Asukagawa
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Waga kimi wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazareishi
iwao to narite koke no musu made