逢ふことをおぼつかなくて過ぐすかな
草葉の露の置きかはるまで
草葉の露の置きかはるまで
- Roma-ji
-
Au koto o obotsukanakute sugusu kana kusaba no tsuyu no okikawaru made
- English Translation
-
Not knowing whether
we shall ever meet, I pass
day on day like this,
until the dew upon the grass
has settled time and again
- Meaning
- Unsure whether we will ever meet, I let the days go by, until the dew on the grass has settled and vanished and settled again.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1430
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the sequence on fields and paddies. Not knowing whether they will meet, the speaker passes day after day, until the dew on the grass has settled again and again. 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.
The first line, "au koto o," means "meeting."
The second line, "obotsukanakute," means "uncertain."
The third line, "sugusu kana," ends with the exclamatory "kana": "so I pass the days." The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "kusaba no tsuyu no," means "of the dew on the grass leaves." Near the end of the book, an image recalling the dew sequence that began the book is sung again.
The last line, "okikawaru made," means "until the dew has vanished and settled again many times." Inverted from the third line, it shows the number of days by the dew's renewal. Where the preceding poem sang of a single night alone, this one sings of the passing of many days, so that one night and many days form a pair.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tamakushige akemaku oshiki atarayo o koromode karete hitori ka mo nen
- Next Poem
-
Aki no ta no homuke no kaze no katayori ni ware wa mono omou tsurenaki mono o