思ふどちひとりひとりが恋ひ死なば
誰によそへて藤衣着む
誰によそへて藤衣着む
- Roma-ji
-
Omou doshi hitori hitori ga koishinaba tare ni yosoete fujigoromo kimu
- English Translation
-
Of two who love,
if one alone should come
to die of longing,
under whose name would the other
put on the wisteria mourning robe
- Meaning
- If one of us who love each other were to die of longing, in whose name could the other, keeping our secret, put on the robes of mourning?
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems III 654
Headnote: "Sent from the woman with whom Tachibana no Kiyoki had been secretly intimate."
If one of two lovers died of longing, the one left behind, bound by secrecy, could not openly mourn; under whose death could they put on mourning clothes? According to the headnote, the woman with whom Tachibana no Kiyoki had a secret affair sent it. The grief peculiar to a hidden love is expressed through the extreme supposition of death and mourning dress.
The author is recorded as anonymous, and the name has not come down to us. The headnote shows it to be the poem of a woman secretly involved with Tachibana no Kiyoki.
It forms a pair with Kiyoki's reply in the next poem.
The first line, "omou doshi," means "those who love each other."
The second line, "hitori hitori ga," means "one or the other of the two."
The third line, "koishinaba," means "if one should die of love," a hypothetical condition.
The fourth line, "tare ni yosoete," means "under pretext of whose death," showing that in a secret love the true reason cannot be revealed.
The final line, "fujigoromo kimu," means "shall I wear mourning?" closing with the conjectural mu, which with "whose" in the fourth line forms a question.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hanasusuki ho ni idete koiba na o oshimi shita yū himo no musubooretsutsu
- Next Poem
-
Naki kouru namida ni sode no sohochinaba nugikae gatera yoru koso wa kime