いつか我み山の里の寂しきに
あるじとなりて人に問はれむ
あるじとなりて人に問はれむ
- Roma-ji
-
Itsuka ware miyama no sato no sabishiki ni aruji to narite hito ni towaremu
- English Translation
-
When, I wonder, will I
in a lonely village set
deep among the hills
become the master of a hut
to which others come to call?
- Meaning
- When will I become the master of a lonely dwelling in a village deep in the mountains, and have others come to call on me?
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1835
Headnote: "When I presented a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the third of the poems on living apart from the world. When will he become the master of a lonely dwelling in a village deep in the mountains and be visited by others? From a life bound by official duties, he voices his longing for the day he can live hidden in a mountain village. According to the headnote, it was composed when he presented a hundred-poem sequence.
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, "itsuka ware," means "when will I," a question charged with longing.
The second line, "miyama no sato no," means "of a village deep in the mountains." "Mi" is an honorific prefix.
The third line, "sabishiki ni," means "in a lonely dwelling."
The fourth line, "aruji to narite," means "becoming its master." It accords with Jien's worry in 1757 of this book that his mountain hut might be falling into ruin.
The last line, "hito ni towaremu," means "will I be visited by others?" Wishing for the day he will be not the visitor but the master of a mountain dwelling who is visited, it shows his yearning for seclusion.
- Author
- Jien
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kazu naranu mi o nani yue ni uramikemu totemo kakutemo sugoshikeru yo o
- Next Poem
-
Ukimi ni wa yamada no oshine oshikomete yo o hitasura ni uramiwabinuru