わびつつも君が心にかなふとて
今朝も袂を干しぞわづらふ
今朝も袂を干しぞわづらふ
- Roma-ji
-
Wabitsutsu mo kimi ga kokoro ni kanō tote kesa mo tamoto o hoshi zo wazurau
- English Translation
-
Grieving all the while,
that it may accord with
what your heart desires,
this morning too my sleeves
I struggle in vain to dry
- Meaning
- Grieving all the while, yet wishing to accord with your heart, this morning too I cannot dry my sleeves, soaked with tears.
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1180
Headnote: "Sent the next morning after he had returned from a place he visited in secret."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence on the feelings of the morning after. Grieving all the while, yet wishing to accord with her heart, this morning too he cannot dry his tear-soaked sleeves. According to the headnote, it is a morning-after poem sent after he returned from a woman he visited in secret.
The author, "Kujō Lay Priest and Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Morosuke. The second son of the Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira, he rose to Minister of the Right and founded the Kujō line. He is called Lay Priest because he took vows late in life.
The first line, "wabitsutsu mo," means "grieving all the while." "Tsutsu" expresses continuation, showing that the pain of a secret love goes on.
The second line, "kimi ga kokoro ni," means "to your heart." Where "kokoro kara" in the preceding poem referred to one's own heart, this poem speaks of following the beloved's heart.
The third line, "kanō tote," means "so that it may accord," showing that he follows her wish that their love be kept hidden.
The fourth line, "kesa mo tamoto o," means "this morning too, my sleeves." "Mo," "too," shows that such mornings have come again and again.
The last line, "hoshi zo wazurau," means "I struggle to dry them," the emphatic "zo" forming a kakari-musubi with the attributive "wazurau." Sleeves soaked with tears that will not dry show the pain of the morning after in a secret love.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Morosuke
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kokoro kara shibashi to tsutsumu mono kara ni shigi no hanegaki tsuraki kesa kana
- Next Poem
-
Tamakura ni kaseru tamoto no tsuyukeki wa akenu to tsuguru namida narikeri