中空に立ちゐる雲の跡もなく
身のはかなくもなりぬべきかな
身のはかなくもなりぬべきかな
- Roma-ji
-
Nakazora ni tachiiru kumo no ato mo naku mi no hakanaku mo narinubeki kana
- English Translation
-
In the middle sky
like the clouds that rise and drift
leaving not a trace,
this self of mine, it seems,
is bound to fade away as well
- Meaning
- Like the clouds that rise and drift in the middle of the sky and vanish without a trace, I too seem bound to fade away.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1370
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the second poem of the sequence on clouds. As clouds drifting in mid-sky vanish without a trace, so the speaker laments being about to fade away. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Anonymous," indicates a poet whose name has not come down.
This poem appears in Episode 21 of The Tales of Ise, where it is placed among the poems exchanged after a man and woman who loved each other drifted apart over a trifling matter.
The first line, "nakazora ni," means "in the middle of the sky." It also suggests a heart unsettled and suspended between.
The second line, "tachiiru kumo no," means "of clouds that rise and linger, drifting." Taking up the clouds that hide Mount Ikoma in the preceding poem, it continues the same image.
The third line, "ato mo naku," means "without a trace." The first three lines form a figure for fading away.
The fourth line, "mi no hakanaku mo," means "my self, fleetingly."
The last line, "narinubeki kana," adds the exclamatory "kana" to a strong conjecture: "it will surely come to that." Where the preceding poem begged the clouds not to hide the mountain, here the clouds themselves become a figure for the speaker fading away.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kimi ga atari mitsutsu o oran Ikomayama kumo na kakushi so ame wa furu tomo
- Next Poem
-
Kumo no iru tooyamadori no yoso ni te mo ari to shi kikeba wabitsutsu zo nuru