Oku to mishi tsuyu mo arikeri hakanakute kienishi hito o nani ni tatoen

English Translation

Dew I saw settle
is still here after all—
but for the one
who fleetingly vanished,
what can I liken her to?

Meaning

The dew I saw settled there remains after all—so to what can I liken her, who vanished so fleetingly?

Commentary

Book Eight Lament Poems 775

Headnote: "On presenting to Jōtōmon'in, who had asked for it after Koshikibu no Naishi died, the Chinese jacket woven with bush clover wet with dew that Koshikibu no Naishi used to wear."
This is the first poem of the sequence remembering the dead through the things of autumn, and the opening poem of an exchange. It says that the dew she saw settled there still remains, yet asks to what she can liken the one who vanished so fleetingly. According to the headnote, her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi had worn a Chinese jacket woven with a pattern of bush clover wet with dew, and when Jōtōmon'in asked for it after her death, the poem was attached as it was presented.
A daughter of Ōe no Masamune, the author became the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, and later served Jōtōmon'in. "Koshikibu no Naishi" was the daughter of the author and Tachibana no Michisada; she served Jōtōmon'in alongside her mother but died young in Manju 2 (1025). "Jōtōmon'in" is Fujiwara no Shōshi, daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga and empress of Emperor Ichijō.
The scene is the time after Koshikibu no Naishi's death, and the place is not recorded.
The direct occasion is presenting her daughter's jacket, a keepsake, at Jōtōmon'in's request.

The first line, "oku to mishi," means "that I saw settle." The dew woven into the jacket along with the bush clover is seen as though it were real dew that had settled there.
In the second line, "tsuyu mo arikeri," "keri" is exclamatory, showing the sudden realization that it is still there. The poem pauses after the second line. The dew, which ought to vanish easily, remains unvanished within the weave.
The third line, "hakanakute," means "fleetingly," and leads into "kie," vanish, in the fourth line.
In the fourth line, "kienishi hito o," "kie" is a word associated with dew. "Ni" marks completion and "shi" the past, speaking of the daughter who has already died.
In the last line, "nani ni tatoen," "n" expresses conjecture, meaning "to what should I liken her?" Dew, long used as the figure of what is fleeting, here remains on the keepsake garment, so there is nothing to liken to the daughter who vanished more fleetingly than dew. Against the convention, found since the opening poem of this book, 757, of likening human life to dew, the poem turns the reasoning around by noting that it is the dew that has remained. The next poem, 776, replies by taking up this dew as a keepsake.

Author

Izumi Shikibu

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other