身をばかつをしほの山と思ひつつ
いかに定めて人の入りけん
いかに定めて人の入りけん
- Roma-ji
-
Mi o ba katsu oshio no yama to omoitsutsu ika ni sadamete hito no iriken
- English Translation
-
Even as you thought,
"How dear this self," at the mount
of Oshio,
how did you make up your mind
and come into these hills?
- Meaning
- Even while you thought your life dear, how did you ever make up your mind to come into the hills of Oshio?
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1629
Headnote: "In reply."
This is the second poem of the exchange on the village of Ōhara and the reply to the preceding poem. The poet asks how, while still holding her own life dear, she ever made up her mind to enter the hills of Oshio.
The author, "Yoshinobu Ason," was a son of Ōnakatomi no Yorimoto and served as chief priest of the Ise Shrine. As one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū.
Mount Oshio stands west of Ōharano and is sung together with it.
The first line, "mi o ba katsu," means "yourself, on the one hand." "Katsu" expresses "on the one hand."
The second line, "oshio no yama to," pivots on "oshi," thinking one's life "dear," and the place name Oshio. It answers the wordplay of "ōhara" in the preceding poem with a place-name pun of its own.
The third line, "omoitsutsu," means "while thinking so." "Tsutsu" marks continuing action.
The fourth line, "ika ni sadamete," means "how did you make up your mind?" It imagines the wavering between holding one's life dear and resolving to leave the world.
The last line, "hito no iriken," means "you must have entered." It closes with "ken," the auxiliary of past conjecture, surmising the other's resolve. Taking up "koshikadomo" of the preceding poem, it asks in return about the resolve with which she entered the hills.
- Author
- Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Yo no naka o somuki ni to te wa koshikadomo nao uki koto wa ōhara no sato
- Next Poem
-
Koke no iori sashite kitsuredo kimi masade kaeru miyama no michi no tsuyukesa