classic waka stream

憂き身には山田のおしねおしこめて
世をひたすらに恨みわびぬる
Roma-ji

Ukimi ni wa yamada no oshine oshikomete yo o hitasura ni uramiwabinuru

English Translation
As for my sad self,
like the late rice of the hill fields
pent up and hidden,
I keep it all inside, and
resent the world with all my heart.
Meaning
For this wretched self of mine, like the late rice of the mountain fields, I keep everything pent up within and resent the world with all my heart.
Commentary
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1836

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first of the poems on resenting and lamenting the world. Like the late rice of the mountain fields, his wretched self keeps his feelings pent up and resents the world single-mindedly. He entrusts to the slow-ripening rice of the mountain fields his grief at an obscurity that never lifts. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Toshiyori Ason," is Minamoto no Toshiyori. A son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu, he compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū and wrote the poetic treatise Toshiyori Zuinō.

The first line, "ukimi ni wa," means "as for my wretched self."
The second line, "yamada no oshine," is late-ripening rice planted in mountain fields. The late rice is overlaid with a self left behind by the world. The lines up to here form a preface leading by sound to "oshikomete."
The third line, "oshikomete," means "keeping it pent up inside." The sounds of "oshine" and "oshi" are laid together.
The fourth line, "yo o hitasura ni," means "the world, single-mindedly."
The last line, "uramiwabinuru," means "I resent and grieve." Breaking off on the attributive "nuru" with a sigh, it shows the grief of an obscurity that never lifts.
Author
Minamoto no Toshiyori
Source
Shin Kokin Wakashu
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