別れにしその面影の恋しき
夢にも見えよ山の葉の月
夢にも見えよ山の葉の月
- Roma-ji
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Wakarenishi sono omokage no koishiki yume ni mo mieyo yama no ha no tsuki
- English Translation
-
We have parted now,
and that face I long to see,
how I long for it—
appear to me in dreams at least,
O moon upon the mountain rim.
- Meaning
- I long for the face of the one from whom I parted—appear to me at least in dreams, O moon at the mountain's rim.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1960
Headnote: "Cherishing longing in their hearts, they thirst for the Buddha."
This is the tenth poem in the sequence of poems from the Hundred Poems on Buddhist Texts by Jakuzen and others, closing that sequence. Longing for the face of the Buddha who has departed, the poet calls on the moon at the mountain rim to appear at least in a dream. According to the headnote, it was composed on the meaning of "Cherishing longing in their hearts, they thirst for the Buddha."
The heart that yearns for the Buddha who has passed away and seeks to behold him is expressed in the form of a love poem longing for the face of a parted lover.
No author is named in the text; continuing from the preceding poem, this is a poem by Jakuzen Hōshi, who, whose lay name was Fujiwara no Yorinari, was a son of Fujiwara no Tametada. With his elder brothers Jakunen and Jakuchō he lived in retirement at Ōhara, and the three were called the Three Jaku of Ōhara. He was a close friend of Saigyō.
"Cherishing longing in their hearts, they thirst for the Buddha" is a phrase in the Life Span chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that by showing his passing, the Buddha causes living beings to yearn for him and to look up to him as the thirsty seek water.
The first line, "wakarenishi," uses the perfective "nu" and the past "ki": "from whom I have already parted." Like 1954 in this book, it takes the Life Span chapter as its topic and follows on from parting with the departed Buddha.
The second line, "sono omokage no," is the form of the departed Buddha, borrowing the love-poem expression of yearning for a lover's face.
The third line, "koishiki," transposes the scripture's "longing," and the text writes it in four syllables.
The fourth line, "yume ni mo mieyo," is an imperative, praying that he appear at least in a dream. It carries the scripture's "thirst" into the longing to see a lover in dreams.
The last line, "yama no ha no tsuki," is the moon rising at the mountain rim, a figure for the Buddha. Ending on a noun, it closes as an address. The text writes the character for "rim" with the character for "leaf."
- Author
- Jakuzen
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Oto ni kiku kimi gari itsu ka iki no matsu matsuran mono o kokorozukushi ni
- Next Poem
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Watatsumi no fukaki ni shizumu isari sede tamotsu kai aru nori o motomeyo