夏なれば宿にふすぶる蚊遣火の
いつまでわが身下燃えをせむ
いつまでわが身下燃えをせむ
- Roma-ji
-
Natsu nareba yado ni fusuburu kayaribi no itsu made waga mi shitamoe o semu
- English Translation
-
Since it is summer
in my house the smudge fire smolders
to keep away the gnats
how long must I too smolder
burning low beneath it all
- Meaning
- Like the smudge fire smoldering in my house to drive off the mosquitoes, since it is summer, how long must I go on burning with hidden love, smoldering unseen within?
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 500
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Taking as its preface the smudge fire smoldering in the house on a summer night, the poem sings of a hidden love that smolders on without ever bursting into flame. The fire that only smokes and never blazes is overlaid with the pain of a love that burns inwardly because it cannot be confessed. It is a poem that deftly turns a scene of everyday summer life into a metaphor for love.
The last line in the main text reads shitamoe wo semu, which does not match shitamoe ni semu in the kana reading line. Here the main text is followed.
First line, "Since it is summer": natsu nareba means "because it is summer."
Second line, "in my house the smudge fire smolders": fusuburu means to make something smolder and smoke.
Third line, "to keep away the gnats": kayaribi is a fire of smoldering grasses to drive off mosquitoes, and lines one through three form a preface leading to shitamoe in the last line.
Fourth line, "how long must I too smolder": itsu made waga mi, how long shall I, answers mu at the end, expressing a lament with no end in sight.
Fifth line, "burning low beneath it all": shitamoe is burning low without flame, overlaid with secretly burning with love. "Burning beneath" in poem 530 of this book likewise sings of a love that burns unseen.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ashihiki no yamahototogisu waga goto ya kimi ni koitsutsu inegate ni suru
- Next Poem
-
Koi seji to Mitarashigawa ni seshi misogi kami wa ukezu zo narinikerashi mo