朝ぼらけおきつる霜の消えかへり
暮れ待つほどの袖を見せばや
暮れ待つほどの袖を見せばや
- Roma-ji
-
Asaborake okitsuru shimo no kiekaeri kure matsu hodo no sode o misebaya
- English Translation
-
In the faint dawn light
like the frost that settled there
I fade utterly;
how I would show you my sleeves
while I wait for dusk to come
- Meaning
- In the faint light of dawn, I rose and left you, fading away like the frost that settled there. How I wish I could show you my sleeves, soaked as I wait for evening to come.
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1189
Headnote: "Sent on the morning after the consort, daughter of the Sanjō Regent, entered the palace."
This is the first poem of a sequence on waiting for the next evening after a meeting. Fading away like the frost settled at dawn, he wishes to show her the sleeves soaked while waiting for evening. According to the headnote, it was sent to the consort, daughter of the Sanjō Regent, on the morning after she entered the palace. The Sanjō Regent is Fujiwara no Yoritada.
The author, "Kazan-in," is Emperor Kazan. A son of Emperor Reizei, he took holy orders after less than two years on the throne.
The first line, "asaborake," means "the faint light of dawn," marking the hour of the morning after.
In the second line, "okitsuru shimo no," "oki" is a pivot word meaning both "frost settles" and "rising from bed." In place of the dew of 1171 and 1172 of this book, frost is sung here.
The third line, "kiekaeri," means "fading utterly away." It is the same word as the first line of the preceding poem, showing the self fading away as the frost vanishes.
The fourth line, "kure matsu hodo no," means "while waiting for evening," the evening of the next meeting. From here a run of poems on waiting for evening begins.
The last line, "sode o misebaya," means "how I would show you my sleeves," "baya" being a final particle of one's own wish. The wish to show her his tear-soaked sleeves conveys how long the wait until evening feels.
- Author
- Emperor Kazan
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kiekaeri aru ka naki ka no waga mi kana uramite kaeru michishiba no tsuyu
- Next Poem
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Niwa ni ouru yūkagegusa no shitatsuyu ya kure o matsu ma no namida naruran