住み慣れし人影もせぬ我が宿に
有明の月の幾夜ともなく
有明の月の幾夜ともなく
- Roma-ji
-
Suminareshi hitokage mo senu waga yado ni ariake no tsuki no ikuyo to mo naku
- English Translation
-
To my house, where now
no shadow of the one who lived
so long here is seen,
the moon that lingers at dawn
comes, through more nights than I can count.
- Meaning
- To my house, where no longer is there any shadow of the one who used to live here, the dawn moon comes, night after night beyond counting.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1529
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the ninth poem of the sequence on the moon lingering at dawn. To her house, where there is no longer any sign of the one who used to live there, the dawn moon comes night after night. The headnote continues from the preceding poem, "topic unknown," and records nothing of the circumstances of composition.
The author, "Izumi Shikibu," was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune. She became the wife of Tachibana no Michisada and was called Izumi Shikibu, later having love affairs with Prince Tametaka and Prince Atsumichi. She also served Jōtōmon'in.
The first line, "suminareshi," means "who had long lived here," pointing to someone who once lived in this house.
The second line, "hitokage mo senu," means "where no human form is seen." Taking up "kuru hito nashi" of the preceding poem, it shows a house now empty.
The third line, "waga yado ni," refers to her own dwelling. It takes up "yado no niwa" of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "ariake no tsuki no," is hypermetric and, like "ariake no," the first line of the preceding poem, presents the dawn moon. "Hitokage," a human shadow, in the second line echoes the "kage," light, of the moon.
The last line, "ikuyo to mo naku," means "for nights beyond counting." The human shadow is gone, yet the moonlight alone shines in night after night; as in the preceding poem, it sings of the moon visiting a house where no one comes.
- Author
- Izumi Shikibu
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ariake no tsuki bakari koso kayoikere kuru hito nashi no yado no niwa ni mo
- Next Poem
-
Sumu hito mo aru ka naki ka no yado narashi ashima no tsuki no moru ni makasete