明け暮れは昔をのみぞしのぶ草
葉末の露に袖濡らしつつ
葉末の露に袖濡らしつつ
- Roma-ji
-
Akekure wa mukashi o nomi zo shinobugusa hazue no tsuyu ni sode nurashitsutsu
- English Translation
-
From morn until night
only for the days gone by
I long, like the fern of longing,
and with dew upon its tips
I keep wetting my sleeves.
- Meaning
- Morning and evening I long only for the past, like the fern of longing, wetting my sleeves again and again with the dew on its leaf tips.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1674
Headnote: "Recalling the past in my old age."
This is the third poem of the sequence of reflections longing for the past. Morning and evening the poet longs only for the past, wetting his sleeves with tears like the dew on the tips of the fern of longing. According to the headnote, it was composed recalling the past in his old age.
The author, "Hafuribe no Narinaka," was a Shinto priest who served as negi at the Hie Shrine.
The first line, "akekure wa," means "morning and evening, always."
The second line, "mukashi o nomi zo," means "only the past," strengthened by the particle "zo."
The third line, "shinobugusa," pivots on "shinobu," both "to long for" the past and the "shinobu" fern. The particle "zo" is closed by the attributive form "shinobu," and the poem breaks here after the third line.
The fourth line, "hazue no tsuyu ni," means "in the dew on the leaf tips" of the fern. The dew figures tears.
The last line, "sode nurashitsutsu," means "wetting my sleeves again and again." "Tsutsu" shows repetition, the tears continuing morning and evening. Taking up the reflections of the two preceding poems, it closes the sequence with the tears of one who longs for the past in old age.
- Author
- Hafuribe no Narinaka
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ika ni sen shizu ga sonou no oku no take kakikomoru tomo yo no naka zo kashi
- Next Poem
-
Oka no be no sato no aruji o tazunureba hito wa kotaezu yamaoroshi no kaze