有明の月よりほかは誰をかは
山路の友と契りおくべき
山路の友と契りおくべき
- Roma-ji
-
Ariake no tsuki yori hoka wa tare o ka wa yamaji no tomo to chigiri oku beki
- English Translation
-
Other than the moon
that lingers on until the dawn,
whom else should I pledge
to be my companion on
the path into the mountains?
- Meaning
- Other than the moon lingering at dawn, whom could I pledge to be my companion on the path into the mountains?
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1543
Headnote: "Composed on seeing the moon when I had resolved to renounce the world."
This is the thirteenth and last poem of the sequence reflecting on oneself through the moon. Other than the dawn moon, the poet asks, whom could he pledge as a companion on the mountain path? According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the moon when he had resolved to take the tonsure.
The author, "Jakuchō Hōshi," had the lay name Fujiwara no Tametsune. The son of Fujiwara no Tametada, he took the tonsure together with his brothers Jakunen and Jakuzen and lived at Ōhara. He was the father of Fujiwara no Takanobu.
The first line, "ariake no," presents the moon remaining at dawn.
The second line, "tsuki yori hoka wa," means "other than the moon."
In the third line, "tare o ka wa," "ka wa" is rhetorical, meaning "whom could I—no one."
The fourth line, "yamaji no tomo to," means "as a companion on the mountain path." It points to a companion for one who will take the tonsure and enter the mountains.
The last line, "chigiri oku beki," closes with the attributive form "beki" in response to "ka wa." Taking not a person but the dawn moon alone as his companion as he resolves to renounce the world, it closes the sequence of entrusting oneself to the moon with a resolve to leave the world.
- Author
- Jakuchō
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Mi no usa o tsuki ya aranu to nagamureba mukashi nagara no kage zo morikuru
- Next Poem
-
Miyako naru aretaru yado ni munashiku ya tsuki ni tazunuru hito kaeruran