Ukiyo o ba kabakari mitsu no hamabe nite namida ni nagori ari ya to zo mishi

English Translation

Having seen just how
bitter this world can be, at
Mitsu on the shore
I looked to see whether tears
had left any wash behind.

Meaning

Having seen just how bitter this world can be, on the shore at Mitsu I looked to see whether my tears had left any wash behind them.

Commentary

44 The Purification at Karasaki

Having gone on so for more than twenty days, she was at her wits' end and strangely unable to settle anywhere. Wondering whether there might be somewhere cooler, and thinking to ease her mind and perform a purification besides, she set out for Karasaki on the shore. They left about the hour of the tiger, with the moon very bright. There was a woman of her own sort and one other in attendance, so that only three rode in the carriage, with seven or eight men on horseback. It grew light about the Kamo river. As they took the mountain road and saw how unlike the capital it was, she found it very moving — because of her state of mind, perhaps. At the barrier they stopped the carriage to change the oxen, and empty carts came on one after another, and rough woodcutters emerged out of the half-dark, which was strangely refreshing and full of interest. Looking ahead, the view opened without limit, and what seemed two or three birds floating there must, if one thought about it, be fishing boats. There she could not hold back her tears. They passed through the crowded houses of Ōtsu and came out at last on the wide shore. While the purification was performed the wind blew hard, but there was no shade and it was very hot. It was over about the hour of the sheep, and they turned back. Gazing at it all with regret, they passed on, and by the time they reached the mouth of the hills it was toward the end of the hour of the monkey. The evening cicadas were at their height. The poem that came to her as she listened she told to no one. At Hashirii some of the party had ridden ahead, and when they arrived those who had gone before were resting and cooling themselves very comfortably and came up to where the carriage was being set down; whereupon the woman in the back of the carriage spoke an opening verse, and a closing verse was added. They drew the carriage near, let down the curtains, and all got out. Bathing hands and feet, she felt as though her cares were clearing. When the sun went down they were urged on, and at a place called Awatayama a man came from the capital and said that His Lordship had called that noon — which she found very strange indeed. It seemed to her he had chosen a time when she would be out. The next day she rested from the journey, and the day after that the child set off for his father's house. It went against her to ask about the strange business, but the memory of the shore was too much for her, and she wrote a poem, telling him to set it down where his father would not see it and come straight home. He came back saying he had left it. She could not help waiting to see whether there might be some sign that he had read it. But nothing came, and the end of the month arrived.
The author was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tomoyasu. Kaneie was the third son of Fujiwara no Morosuke and would rise to be regent and chancellor. The child is her son Fujiwara no Michitsuna. Karasaki is a place on the lake in Ōmi, known as a site for purification. Hashirii is a spring by the barrier of Ōsaka. The woman in the back of the carriage is one of her attendants; the text gives no name.
It is the sixth month of the first year of Tenroku, after the return from Karasaki, and the places are the author's dwelling and Kaneie's residence.
Hearing that Kaneie had called while she was away, and thinking it strange, she let two days pass; then the young Michitsuna set off for his father's house. It went against her to ask about the strange business, but the memory of the shore was too much for her, and she wrote this and sent it, telling the boy to set it down where his father would not see it and come straight home.
Michitsuna came back saying he had left it. She could not help waiting for some sign that it had been read, but nothing came, and the end of the month arrived.

The opening names this bitter world, setting her habitual grief at the head of the poem. In the second line the word means both that she has seen how much it is and the name of the shore at Mitsu, and on it the poem turns: a statement about the heart folds back into a place name. The third fixes the location and carries into the fourth. The word there means what remains after a thing is gone, and also the wash left when a wave draws back, so that it belongs to the shore. The sense is that although she should have wept herself dry on the shore of the purification, she looked to see whether any wash of tears remained. The close is bound by an emphatic particle: she did look, and found out. Behind it lies the reasoning that a purification washes defilement into the water, so that the tears too ought to have gone and have not. Under the guise of a report on an outing, it lays a grievance about his calling in her absence. That she told the boy to leave it where it would not be seen and come away shows a woman who expects no answer.

Author

The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

Source

Kagero Nikki

Other