Naki hito no ato o dani tote kite mireba aranu sato ni mo narinikeru kana

English Translation

Hoping at the least
to see the traces of the dead,
I came and looked—
but it has become instead
a village not the same.

Meaning

I came hoping at least to see the traces of the one who is gone, but it has become a village I would not know.

Commentary

Book Eight Lament Poems 819

Headnote: "On seeing, long after Archbishop Myōson had passed away, that his quarters and all had been moved to Iwakura, and that grass had grown thick and the place had become quite changed."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence remembering the dead through things and places they left behind, and the last poem of that sequence. It says that coming at least to see the traces of the dead, he found the place had become a different village. According to the headnote, long after Archbishop Myōson died, his monastic quarters had been moved to Iwakura, and the poet composed this on seeing that grass had grown thick where they had stood and the place had changed completely.
The author was a monk of the Tendai school in the mid-Heian period who held the rank of Preceptor. "Archbishop Myōson" was a monk of the Tendai school in the mid-Heian period who held the rank of Archbishop.
The scene is a time long after Myōson's death, set at the site of Myōson's monastic quarters.
The direct occasion is visiting the site of Myōson's quarters and seeing how changed it was.
Iwakura is an area north of the capital.

The first line, "naki hito no," means "of the late Myōson."
In the second line, "ato o dani tote," "ato" is what remains of the place where he lived. "Dani" means "at least," showing the wish to see at least the traces, even if the man himself cannot be met.
In the third line, "kite mireba," "ba" expresses a realized condition, meaning "when I came and looked."
In the fourth line, "aranu sato ni mo," "aranu" means "other" or "different." It speaks of a familiar place that has become like another village.
In the last line, "narinikeru kana," "ni" marks completion and "keru" and "kana" are exclamatory, meaning "it has become." Against the poems on keepsake objects before it, here the very site of the dwelling is lost, and the lament is that not even a means of remembrance remains. It echoes 777 of this book, where the site of the empress's quarters was overgrown with grass, in remembering the dead at a site grown thick with grass.

Author

Keisen

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other