Negawaku wa shibashi yamiji ni yasuraite kakage ya semashi nori no tomoshibi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

願はくはしばし闇路にやすらひて
かかげやせまし法のともし火

Roma-ji: Negawaku wa shibashi yamiji ni yasuraite kakage ya semashi nori no tomoshibi
English Translation: If I may but wish,
for a while upon the dark road
I would linger on—
and should I then lift up high
the lamp of the holy Law?
Meaning: If I may, I would linger a while on this dark road—should I hold up the lamp of the Law?
Commentary: Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1931

Headnote: "From among his poems of personal reflection."
This is the second poem in the sequence of reflections on reading the sutras and pondering the Law. The poet muses whether, if he may, he should linger for a while on the dark road and hold up the lamp of the Law for others. According to the headnote, it is one of his poems of personal reflection.
Rather than setting out for paradise at once, he would remain in the world of delusion to guide people, revealing the resolve of one who bears the Buddha's Law.
The author, "Saki no Daisōjō Jien," was a Tendai monk, son of Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi and younger brother of Kujō Kanezane. He served four times as head abbot of the Tendai school and wrote the historical work Gukanshō.

The first line, "negawaku wa," means "what I wish is," opening the poem in the tone of a prayer.
In the second line, "shibashi yamiji ni," "yamiji" likens this world, closed in by defilements and lost in delusion, to a dark road. It contrasts with the brightness of the "unclouded moon" in the preceding poem.
The third line, "yasuraite," means "hesitating and lingering," showing the choice to stay in the dark world.
The fourth line, "kakage ya semashi," uses the particle "ya" and "mashi" of hesitation: should I hold it up or not? The kakari-musubi of "ya" closes with the attributive "mashi."
The last line, "nori no tomoshibi," likens the Buddha's Law to a lamp that lights the darkness, and ends on a noun. It forms a pair of dark and light with the "dark road" of the second line.
Author: Jien
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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