長らへて世に住むかひはなけれども
憂きに換へたる命なりけり
憂きに換へたる命なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Nagaraete yo ni sumu kai wa nakeredomo uki ni kaetaru inochi narikeri
- English Translation
-
Though there is no worth
in living on and dwelling
in this world of ours,
still this life of mine was bought
at the price of all its griefs.
- Meaning
- Though there is no worth in living on and dwelling in this world, this life of mine is one I have paid for with sorrows.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1768
Headnote: "On the feeling of personal grievance, when composing a fifty-poem sequence."
This is the fourth of the poems on a heart that loathes the world yet cannot cast it off. There is no worth in living on in this world, yet this life has been kept at the cost of many sorrows. It tells of a heart that cannot make light of life precisely because it has suffered so much. According to the headnote, it was composed on personal grievance within a fifty-poem sequence.
The author, "Prince-Priest Shukaku," was a son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa who became abbot of Ninnaji. He sponsored poetic gatherings, having poets compose fifty-poem sequences among others.
The first line, "nagaraete," means "living on."
The second line, "yo ni sumu kai wa," means "the worth of dwelling in this world."
The third line, "nakeredomo," means "though there is none." "Domo" is concessive.
The fourth line, "uki ni kaetaru," means "exchanged for sorrow." "Taru" is the attributive of the perfective "tari."
In the last line, "inochi narikeri," "keri" expresses realization. Though it is a life without worth, he comes to see it as something weighty, kept at the price of sorrow.
- Author
- Cloistered Prince Shukaku
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Oshikaeshi mono o omou wa kurushiki ni shirazugao nite yo o ya sugimashi
- Next Poem
-
Yo o sutsuru kokoro wa nao zo nakarikeru uki o ushi to wa omoishiredomo