ありと見て頼むぞかたき空蝉の
世をばなしとや思ひなしてむ
世をばなしとや思ひなしてむ
- Roma-ji
-
Ari to mite tanomu zo kataki utsusemi no yo oba nashi to ya omoinashitemu
- English Translation
-
To see it as real
and to trust in it is hard—
this cicada-shell
world of ours: shall I resolve
to think of it as nothing?
- Meaning
- It is hard to trust in this world as something that truly exists. Shall I rather make up my mind that this empty, cicada-shell world is nothing at all?
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Names of Things 443
Headnote: "Pampas grass plumes"
This poem says that it is hard to rely on the world as real, and wonders whether to resolve to regard this fleeting world as nothing. The title "obana" (pampas grass plumes) is hidden in "yo oba nashi to ya" in the fourth line. "Obana" refers to the plumes of susuki grass. It is a reflective poem of resignation toward the impermanent world, and the word "utsusemi" overlaps with the title of 424 and 425 in this book.
The poet is recorded as "anonymous," and the name has not come down to us.
First line "Ari to mite" means "seeing it as surely existing."
Second line "tanomu zo kataki" means "to rely on it is hard," closing in the attributive "kataki" in answer to "zo." The poem pauses here.
Third line "utsusemi no" is a pillow word modifying "yo" (world), evoking the fleeting present world.
Fourth line "yo oba nashi to ya" means "this world as nothing," and the title "obana" is hidden in "oba na." "Ya" is an interrogative particle.
Fifth line "omoinashitemu" means "shall I resolve to think so," with "temu" expressing strong intent or conjecture, closing in the attributive form in answer to "ya."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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