慕はれて来にし心の身にしあれば
帰るさまには道も知られず
帰るさまには道も知られず
- Roma-ji
-
Shitawarete kinishi kokoro no mi ni shi areba kaeru sama ni wa michi mo shirarezu
- English Translation
-
Since I am one
who came led by a heart
that yearned for you,
now, as I turn for home,
I cannot find the way.
- Meaning
- I came all this way led by a heart that yearned after you; so now, as I try to turn back, I cannot even tell which way the road goes.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Parting Poems 389
Headnote: "Composed when Sane said, 'Now go back from here'"
This poem was composed when Minamoto no Sane told those seeing him off that they had come far enough and should now go back. The poet says that, having come this far led by a heart that yearned after him, he cannot find the way home, expressing his continued reluctance to part.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kanemochi," was a son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto, Middle Captain of the Right Inner Palace Guards, and elder brother of Fujiwara no Kanesuke; he rose to the rank of Consultant.
The first line, "yearning for you," uses the spontaneous auxiliary re, describing a longing that arises of itself. It is the third poem in the series seeing off Minamoto no Sane, answering "come, let us turn back" in the preceding poem by saying that he cannot go back.
The second line, "led by a heart that came," uses the perfective ni and past shi for the heart that has come all this way.
The third line, "since I am one," inserts the emphatic shi and gives the reason: because I am one who came guided by the heart.
The fourth line, "as I turn for home," uses sama for direction, meaning "when it comes to going back."
The last line, "I cannot find the way," uses re, the irrealis of the spontaneous auxiliary ru, to say that the way home simply will not come to him, expressing the difficulty of parting.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kanemochi
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hitoyari no michi naranaku ni ōkata wa iki ushi to iite iza kaerinamu
- Next Poem
-
Katsu koete wakare mo yuku ka Ōsaka wa hitodanome naru na ni koso arikere