命さへあらば見つべき身の果てを
偲ばむ人のなきぞ悲しき
偲ばむ人のなきぞ悲しき
- Roma-ji
-
Inochi sae araba mitsubeki mi no hate o shinobamu hito no naki zo kanashiki
- English Translation
-
If only life lasts,
I shall surely come to see
what end I will meet,
yet that no one will mourn me then
is what fills me with such grief.
- Meaning
- If only I live, I will surely see how my life ends, and it grieves me that there will be no one then to remember me.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1738
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
A poem on death and the brevity of life. If only she lives, she will surely see her own end, and it grieves her that no one will remember her then. It laments the loneliness of having no one to recall her after death. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Izumi Shikibu," was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune. She took her name from her marriage to Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi. Known for her love affairs with Prince Tametaka and Prince Atsumichi, she later served Jōtōmon-in Shōshi.
In the first line, "inochi sae," "sae" is an adverbial particle meaning "if only that," strengthening the supposition "if only I live."
The second line, "araba mitsubeki," means "if I live, I shall surely see." "Tsubeshi" expresses confident conjecture.
The third line, "mi no hate o," is one's own end, the final fall of one's life.
The fourth line, "shinobamu hito no," means "of someone to remember me." Following the fern poems before it, the word "shinobu" appears here too.
The last line, "naki zo kanashiki," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive form of the adjective "kanashiki." Where the preceding poem offered an old woman's encouragement to go first, this one grieves over an end with no one to remember.
- Author
- Izumi Shikibu
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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