石上古りにし人を尋ぬれば
荒れたる宿に菫摘みけり
荒れたる宿に菫摘みけり
- Roma-ji
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Isonokami furinishi hito o tazunureba aretaru yado ni sumire tsumikeri
- English Translation
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Old as Isonokami,
seeking the one I knew long since,
I came to call—
in the house fallen to ruin,
someone picking violets.
- Meaning
- When I went seeking the one I had known long ago, in the ruined house there was only someone picking violets.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1684
Headnote: "Composed when I went looking for someone I had known long before near Saiin, and a woman picking violets said she did not know of her."
This is the first poem of a sequence on masterless houses and visits that have ceased. Seeking an old acquaintance, the poet finds only someone picking violets at a ruined house. According to the headnote, it was composed when he went looking for someone he had known long before near Saiin, and a woman picking violets said she did not know of her.
The author, "Nōin Hōshi," was named Tachibana no Nagayasu in lay life. After taking vows he became known for traveling the provinces to visit famous poetic places, and he was one of the Thirty-Six Later Poetic Immortals.
Saiin refers to the area west of the capital, around the site of Emperor Junna's detached palace.
The first line, "isonokami," is a place name in Yamato Province and a pillow word for "furu," "to grow old."
The second line, "furinishi hito o," means "the one who has grown old to me," an acquaintance long unseen.
The third line, "tazunureba," means "when I sought her out."
The fourth line, "aretaru yado ni," means "at the house fallen to ruin." It takes up the sequence on ruined old homes beginning at 1680 in this book.
The last line, "sumire tsumikeri," means "someone was picking violets." "Keri" expresses exclamation at a realization. Setting in place of the person sought a stranger picking violets, it quietly depicts how people change and pass.
- Author
- Nōin
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Kage ni tote tachikakurureba karagoromo nurenu ame furu matsu no koe kana
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Inishie o omoiyarite zo koiwataru aretaru yado no koke no ishibashi