八十あまり西の迎へを待ちかねて
住み荒らしたる柴の庵ぞ
住み荒らしたる柴の庵ぞ
- Roma-ji
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Yasoji amari nishi no mukae o machikanete sumiarashitaru shiba no iori zo
- English Translation
-
Past eighty years now,
waiting long for the welcome
from the western land,
I have let it fall to ruin,
this brushwood hut of mine.
- Meaning
- Past eighty now, waiting and waiting for the welcome from the Western Paradise, I have let this brushwood hut fall to ruin.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1670
Headnote: "When, in old age, I had retired to a mountain temple in Tsu Province, and Jakuren came to visit and found my hut run-down and pitiful, and after returning sent me words of sympathy."
This is the third poem of the sequence on ruined dwellings. Past eighty and waiting for the welcome from the Western Paradise, the poet has let his brushwood hut fall to ruin. According to the headnote, when Jakuren visited him at a mountain temple in Tsu where he had retired in old age, found the hut run-down, and sent words of sympathy after returning home, this was his reply.
Of the author, "Sainichi Hōshi," nothing is clear beyond what the headnote tells: that he was a monk who retired in old age to a mountain temple in Settsu Province.
The first line, "yasoji amari," means "past eighty years." It is hypermetric, with six syllables.
The second line, "nishi no mukae o," means "the welcome from the west," from the Pure Land of Paradise. It rests on the belief that Amida Buddha comes to welcome one at the hour of death.
The third line, "machikanete," means "waiting and waiting, unable to wait longer."
The fourth line, "sumiarashitaru," means "which I have let fall to ruin while living there." He answers by owning the state of the hut noted in Jakuren's letter.
The last line, "shiba no iori zo," means "it is a brushwood hut." It closes by declaring with the particle "zo." Against the ruined old home and the masterless kiln of the two preceding poems, here a hut that has fallen to ruin while its master still lives is sung, suffused with the heart of an old monk awaiting rebirth in paradise.
- Author
- Sainichi
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Keburi taete yaku hito mo naki sumigama no ato no nageki o tare ka koruran
- Next Poem
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Yamazato ni toikuru hito no kotogusa wa kono sumai koso urayamashikere