水の上に浮きたる鳥の跡もなく
おぼつかなさを思ふころかな
おぼつかなさを思ふころかな
- Roma-ji
-
Mizu no ue ni ukitaru tori no ato mo naku obotsukanasa o omou koro kana
- English Translation
-
Like birds that float
upon the water's surface,
leaving not a trace:
so uncertain, so in doubt,
are my thoughts in these days
- Meaning
- Like birds floating on the water that leave no trace behind, you send no word at all, and in these days I brood in anxious uncertainty.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 1021
Headnote: "To a woman who repeatedly failed to reply."
This is the second of two poems by Kentoku-kō. As water birds leave no trace, no word comes from the beloved, and he is sunk in anxious doubt. According to the headnote, it was sent to a woman who did not answer his letters again and again.
The author, "Kentoku-kō," continues from the preceding poem and is Fujiwara no Koretada. The eldest son of Fujiwara no Morosuke, Minister of the Right, he rose to Regent and Chancellor. Kentoku-kō is the posthumous name given him after his death. His personal collection is the Ichijō Sesshō Gyoshū.
The first line, "mizu no ue ni," means "on the water's surface."
The second line, "ukitaru tori no," means "of the water birds floating there."
The third line, "ato mo naku," means "leaving no trace," as water birds leave none on the surface; the first three lines lead into the absence of any reply. "Ato" also suggests handwriting, a letter.
The fourth line, "obotsukanasa o," means "the anxiety of not knowing how she is."
The last line closes with the exclamatory "kana." Where the preceding poem sang of overflowing tears through spring rain and wind, this one voices the unease of receiving no reply through birds on still water. In the sequence that follows, poems seeking the faintest sign, "honoka ni" and "ato o dani," continue.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Koretada
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Harukaze no fuku ni mo masaru namida kana waga minakami mo kōri tokurashi
- Next Poem
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Kataoka no yukima ni nezasu wakakusa no honoka ni miteshi hito zo koishiki