ひとかたに思ひとりにし心には
なほ背かるる身をいかにせむ
なほ背かるる身をいかにせむ
- Roma-ji
-
Hitokata ni omoitorinishi kokoro ni wa nao somukaruru mi o ika ni semu
- English Translation
-
To this heart of mine
that has resolved itself
to a single course,
this self still, despite itself,
turns traitor—what shall I do?
- Meaning
- My heart has resolved upon a single course, yet my self still goes against it despite itself; what am I to do with it?
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1825
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the third of the poems on loathing the world and the third of five by Jien. His heart has resolved upon a single course, yet what is he to do with a self that still goes against it? He laments that heart and body do not agree.
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. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem.
The first line, "hitokata ni," means "in one direction, single-mindedly."
The second line, "omoitorinishi," means "has firmly resolved." "Ni" is the continuative of the perfective "nu," "shi" the attributive of the past "ki."
The third line, "kokoro ni wa," means "against such a heart."
The fourth line, "nao somukaruru," means "still goes against it." "Ruru" is the attributive of the spontaneous "ru," meaning it turns away in spite of itself.
The last line, "mi o ika ni semu," means "what shall I do with this self?" Whereas Saigyō in 1748 of this book told of a heart leaving the body, this poem laments a body that turns against the heart.
- Author
- Jien
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Yo o itou kokoro no fukaku naru mama ni suguru tsukihi o uchikazoetsutsu
- Next Poem
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Nani yue ni kono yo o fukaku itou zo to hito no toekashi yasuku kotaemu