行く末を短きものと思ひなば
目の前にだに背かざらなむ
目の前にだに背かざらなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Yukusue o mijikaki mono to omoinaba
me no mae ni dani somukazaranamu - English Translation
-
If you have decided
that the time to come is short,
then at the least, while
I am here before your eyes,
I would have you not turn away
- Meaning
- If you take the time to come to be short, then at least, while I am here before your eyes, do not turn away from me.
- Commentary
-
Part Three: Agemaki
Niou's further poem, in answer to hers. If the future cannot be believed in, he says, let her at least accept the man in front of her now. Soon after, he resolved to bring her up to the Nijo residence in the capital, and the tale moves on to Sawarabi.
Yukusue takes her word exactly as she used it. Me no mae ni dani is at least here and now. Somuku is to turn away, to let the heart go, and is also the word for taking religious vows. To grant that the bond has no visible future and then to ask that the present feeling be accepted is an argument that shows Niou's impatience and his frankness together.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
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Koshikata o omoiizuru mo hakanaki o
yukusue kakete nani tanomuramu - Next Poem
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Kimi ni tote amata no haru o tsumishikaba
tsune o wasurenu hatsuwarabi nari