何ゆゑにこの世を深く厭ふぞと
人の問へかしやすく答へむ
人の問へかしやすく答へむ
- Roma-ji
-
Nani yue ni kono yo o fukaku itou zo to hito no toekashi yasuku kotaemu
- English Translation
-
"For what reason is it
you loathe this world so deeply?"
I wish that someone
would ask me this; I would give
an answer easily enough.
- Meaning
- I wish someone would ask me, "Why do you loathe this world so deeply?" I would answer easily.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1826
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth of the poems on loathing the world and the fourth of five by Jien. He wishes someone would ask why he loathes this world so deeply; he would answer easily. It tells of a heart for which the reason lies in the state of the world itself, so that the answer is plain.
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, "nani yue ni," means "for what reason."
The second line, "kono yo o fukaku," means "this world so deeply."
The third line, "itou zo to," means "do you loathe?"
In the fourth line, "hito no toekashi," "kashi" is an emphatic final particle, meaning "I wish someone would ask," and the poem pauses here.
The last line, "yasuku kotaemu," means "I would answer easily." In contrast to 1754 of this book, where the sleeves would be wet before an answer came, here he says he would answer with ease.
- Author
- Jien
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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