思ひやる心は空にあるものを
などか雲居にあひ見ざるらむ
などか雲居にあひ見ざるらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Omoiyaru kokoro wa sora ni aru mono o nado ka kumoi ni aimizaruramu
- English Translation
-
My heart that longs for
you has gone into the sky
and is there, and yet
why is it among the clouds
we two never come to meet?
- Meaning
- My heart, longing for you, is up in the sky already; why then do we never meet among the clouds of the palace?
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 1249
Headnote: "Reply."
This is the second poem of the sequence of exchanges among members of the court, a reply to the preceding poem. My heart that longs for you is in the sky, she answers; why then can we not meet among the clouds?
The author, "Consort Princess Hiroko," is a daughter of Prince Yasuakira, crown prince to Emperor Daigo; she became a consort of Emperor Suzaku and bore Princess Masako.
The first line, "omoiyaru," means "thinking of someone far away."
The second line, "kokoro wa sora ni," means "my heart has wandered into the sky." It also suggests a restless, absent-minded heart.
The third line, "aru mono o," is concessive: "though my heart is there." It is the same third line as in Ise's poem, 1241.
The fourth line, "nado ka kumoi ni," answers "utate kumoi ni," the fourth line of the preceding poem, in the same position. If her heart is in the sky, the logic runs, they ought to meet among the clouds.
In the last line, "aimizaruramu," "ramu" conjectures a cause: "why can we not meet?" Where the Emperor said he was lost among the clouds, the Consort asks why they cannot meet among those same clouds, gently reproaching him for not coming.
- Author
- Princess Hiroko
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tamaboko no michi wa haruka ni aranedomo utate kumoi ni madou koro kana
- Next Poem
-
Harusame no furishiku koro ka aoyagi no itodo midarete hito zo koishiki