Karisome no tabi no wakare to shinoburedo oi wa namida mo e koso todomene

English Translation

Only a brief parting,
a parting for a journey,
so I bear it—yet
old age cannot hold them back,
cannot hold back even tears.

Meaning

I bear it by telling myself this is only a passing parting for a journey, yet old age cannot hold back even its tears.

Commentary

Book Nine Parting Poems 889

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of a sequence of partings composed on no set topic. Even bearing it as a passing parting for a journey, an aged man cannot hold back his tears. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author was a son of Fujiwara no Toshitada, compiled the Senzaishū, and taught the poetic ideal of mystery and depth.
The scene is a parting from someone, and the place is not recorded.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "karisome no," means "temporary, of the moment." It is the same word as the opening of 881, showing an effort to take the parting lightly.
The second line, "tabi no wakare to," means "as a parting for a journey." He tells himself that it is not a parting by death.
The third line, "shinoburedo," means "though I bear it," turning by concession to the lower lines where he cannot.
The fourth line, "oi wa namida mo," means "old age cannot even its tears," the particle "wa" singling out age and "mo" adding the tears.
The last line, "e koso todomene," means "cannot hold them back," the adverb "e" pairing with the negative to express impossibility while the particle "koso" closes in "ne," the perfective form of the negative "zu." It is the same "e koso ... ne" ending as 879, and following the preceding poem, where age makes promises impossible, here age makes tears impossible to check.

Author

Fujiwara no Shunzei

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other