命だに心にかなふものならば
何か別れの悲しからまし
何か別れの悲しからまし
- Roma-ji
-
Inochi dani kokoro ni kanau mono naraba nani ka wakare no kanashikaramashi
- English Translation
-
If only life, at least,
would bend to my heart's wishes,
as I desire,
why then should our parting
bring me any sorrow?
- Meaning
- If only life itself, at the very least, would go as my heart wishes, why should parting from you bring me any sorrow at all?
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Parting Poems 387
Headnote: "Composed at Yamazaki, where people were lamenting the parting as Minamoto no Sane was leaving for Tsukushi to take the waters"
This poem was composed at Yamazaki, where people grieved over parting from Minamoto no Sane as he set out for Tsukushi to take the waters. If only life could be as one wished, reunion would be assured and parting would not be sad; it is because life is beyond our control that parting brings grief. The poet finds the root of that sorrow in the frailty of human life.
The author, "Shirome," was a courtesan of Eguchi in Settsu; the Tales of Yamato also records her composing a poem before Retired Emperor Uda.
The first line, "if only life, at least," uses dani, "at least," naming life as the least that one could wish for. This poem and the two that follow, through 389, form a series seeing off Minamoto no Sane on his journey to Tsukushi.
The second line, "would bend to my heart," means to go as one wishes, to be within one's control.
The third line, "as I desire," sets the hypothesis and leads to the counterfactual last line.
The fourth line, "why then our parting," uses the rhetorical nani ka to ask how it could be so.
The last line, "bring me any sorrow?" uses the counterfactual auxiliary mashi, showing by reversal that parting is sad precisely because life is not ours to command.
- Author
- Shirome
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Akigiri no tomo ni tachiidete wakarenaba harenu omoi ni koi ya wataramu
- Next Poem
-
Hitoyari no michi naranaku ni ōkata wa iki ushi to iite iza kaerinamu