とどまらむことは心にかなへども
いかにかせまし秋の誘ふを
いかにかせまし秋の誘ふを
- Roma-ji
-
Todomaramu koto wa kokoro ni kanaedomo ika ni ka semashi aki no sasou o
- English Translation
-
That I should remain—
this would be to my heart's desire,
and yet what am I
now to do, with autumn here
beckoning me on my way?
- Meaning
- To stay here would be what my heart desires, yet what can I do when autumn beckons me away?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Parting Poems 875
Headnote: "Reply."
This is the second poem of the sequence on autumn partings and the second of the exchange with Fujiwara no Takaie. Staying would suit his heart, Sanekata replies, but there is nothing he can do when autumn beckons him away. According to the headnote, it is a reply to the preceding poem.
The author was a son of Fujiwara no Sadatoki, was adopted by his uncle Fujiwara no Naritoki, rose to Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, became governor of Mutsu, and died at his post.
The scene is before his autumn departure, and the place is the capital.
The direct occasion was the reply to the preceding poem.
The first line, "todomaramu," means "I would stay," the auxiliary "mu" expressing intention. The poem opens with his true wish to remain in the capital.
The second line, "koto wa kokoro ni," means "that, in my heart."
The third line, "kanaedomo," means "though it accords," the concession revealing the gap between his heart and what must happen.
The fourth line, "ika ni ka semashi," means "what should I do," the question raised by the particle "ka" closing in the attributive "mashi," and the poem breaks here. It is the same line as the fourth line of 866, and both express the inevitability of partings for official posts.
The last line, "aki no sasou o," places the object of the fourth line at the end by inversion. Taking up "aki no yūgure" from the preceding poem, it treats autumn as a person luring him onto the road, laying the blame for a parting caused by official appointment on the season. Where the preceding poem entrusts the grief of the one who sees off to autumn, this poem entrusts the inevitability of the one who leaves to autumn, so the same season serves both sides of the exchange.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Sanekata
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- The River of Heaven— than the boat that sailed away and vanished in the sky, more than theirs, it is my grief that is deeper this morning.
- On the parting road never do the sighs of grief cease at any time— yet sadder still than ever is this autumn evening.
- From the capital together with the autumn I began my way— and the river mists of Yodo, how many nights have they come between?
- When you think of me, look upon the moon and know it is the selfsame sky— though far as the clouds apart, till we come round to meet again.