頼め来し言の葉ばかりとどめ置きて
浅茅が露と消えなましかば
浅茅が露と消えなましかば
- Roma-ji
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Tanome koshi koto no ha bakari todome okite asaji ga tsuyu to kienamashikaba
- English Translation
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Leaving just behind
the words you gave me to trust,
had I disappeared,
like dew on the low reed grass
fading, vanished all away
- Meaning
- Had I vanished like the dew on the low reed grass, leaving behind only the words you gave me to trust—what then?
- Commentary
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Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1225
Headnote: "Sent to the Koga Palace Minister by a woman who relied on him, when she had recovered from an illness."
This is the sixth poem of the sequence on resenting a cold-hearted lover and enduring the pain. Had she vanished like dew on the low reed grass, leaving only the words he gave her to trust—what then? According to the headnote, it was sent to the Koga Palace Minister by a woman who relied on him, when she had recovered from an illness, and the next poem is his reply.
The author is given as "Anonymous," meaning that the name has not come down to us.
The Koga Palace Minister of the headnote is Minamoto no Masamichi, the author of the next poem.
The first line, "tanome koshi," means "that you have made me trust." "Tanomu" in its lower bigrade conjugation refers to the promises he has made.
The second line, "koto no ha bakari," means "only the words." "Ha," "leaf," in "koto no ha," "words," forms an associated word with "dew" in the last line.
The third line, "todome okite," means "leaving behind," and has six syllables, one more than the norm.
The fourth line, "asaji ga tsuyu to," means "like the dew on the low reed grass," an image of life fleetingly vanishing that suggests her illness.
The last line, "kienamashikaba," means "had I vanished." "Mashikaba" is counterfactual, and the poem breaks off, leaving a lingering resonance. It contains the question, "had I died, what would you have felt?" and seeks to test his sincerity. It shares its last line with "kienamashikaba" in 1187 of this book.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tsurashi to wa omou mono kara fushishiba no shibashi mo korinu kokoro narikeri
- Next Poem
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Aware ni mo tare ka wa tsuyu mo omowamashi kienokorubeki waga mi naraneba