何事を思ふ人ぞと人問はば
答へぬ先に袖ぞ濡るべき
答へぬ先に袖ぞ濡るべき
- Roma-ji
-
Nanigoto o omou hito zo to hito towaba kotaenu saki ni sode zo nurubeki
- English Translation
-
"What is it he broods on,
this man?" If someone were
to ask me that,
before I could say a word
surely my sleeves would be wet.
- Meaning
- If someone were to ask, "What is it that this man broods over?" surely my sleeves would be wet with tears before I could answer.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1754
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the feeling of personal grievance."
This is the eighth of the poems on turning from the world and the first of three by Jien. If asked what he broods over, his sleeves would be wet with tears before he could answer. He tells of a grief too deep for words.
The author, "Former Archbishop Jien," is Jien. A son of Fujiwara no Tadamichi and younger brother of Kujō Kanezane, he served four times as Tendai abbot and wrote the historical treatise Gukanshō.
The first line, "nanigoto o," means "what," setting out the form of a question first.
The second line, "omou hito zo to," means "is he one who broods."
The third line, "hito towaba," means "if someone asks." The "hito" of the second line and that of the third are set side by side, showing the one asked and the one asking.
The fourth line, "kotaenu saki ni," means "before I answer."
The last line, "sode zo nurubeki," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive "beki." The sleeves wet with tears show a sorrow so deep that tears come before words.
- Author
- Jien
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Mi no usa o omoishirazu wa ikaga semu itoinagara mo nao sugusu kana
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Itazura ni suginishi koto ya nagekaremu ukegataki mi no yūgure no sora