ながめつつ我が思ふことはひぐらしに
軒の雫の絶ゆるよもなし
軒の雫の絶ゆるよもなし
- Roma-ji
-
Nagametsutsu waga omou koto wa higurashi ni noki no shizuku no tayuru yo mo nashi
- English Translation
-
As I gaze out lost
in the long rains, my thoughts
all through the day
never cease, like drops that fall
from the eaves by night and day.
- Meaning
- As I gaze out at the long rains, lost in thought, my brooding never ceases all day long, just as the drops from the eaves never stop, day or night.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1801
Headnote: "On autumn rain."
A poem on autumn rain. The thoughts he broods on as he gazes at the long rains never cease, just as the drops from the eaves do not stop all day or through the night. He lays his unending brooding over the drops of the long autumn rain. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of autumn rain.
The author, "Minister of Central Affairs Prince Tomohira," was a son of Emperor Murakami who served as Minister of Central Affairs. Gifted in learning and Chinese poetry, he was called the Later Prince of Central Affairs.
In the first line, "nagametsutsu," "nagame" is a pivot word meaning both "gazing lost in thought" and "long rains."
The second line, "waga omou koto wa," means "what I brood on."
The third line, "higurashi ni," means "all day long." Following the autumn night of the preceding poem, it sings of the long rain of an autumn day.
The fourth line, "noki no shizuku no," is the raindrops falling from the eaves. Their unbroken dripping stands for his unbroken brooding.
In the last line, "tayuru yo mo nashi," "yo" means night, pairing with "higurashi" in the third line to mean "never ceasing, day or night." It shows his thoughts, as unending as the drops.
- Author
- Prince Tomohira
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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