数々に思ひ思はず問ひがたみ
身を知る雨は降りぞまされる
身を知る雨は降りぞまされる
- Roma-ji
-
Kazukazu ni omoi omowazu toigatami mi o shiru ame wa furi zo masareru
- English Translation
-
Whether you love me
greatly or not at all,
I cannot ask you;
the rain that knows my station
falls ever harder now.
- Meaning
- I cannot bring myself to ask whether you truly love me or not, and so the rain that tells me what I am worth to you pours down ever harder.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 705
Headnote: "When Fujiwara no Toshiyuki, having come to know a woman in the household of Ariwara no Narihira, sent her a letter saying, "I would come to you now, but I am troubled by the falling rain," Narihira heard of it and composed this poem in the woman's place"
When Fujiwara no Toshiyuki wrote to a woman in Narihira's household that he meant to come at once but was troubled by the rain, Narihira composed this poem in her place. To the man who uses the rain as an excuse not to come, it returns her reproach, saying that the rain pours down ever harder as if to make her know her own worth, and overlaying it with the rain of her tears.
The same story appears in section 107 of The Tales of Ise, which tells that Toshiyuki, on receiving this poem, rushed to the woman soaked to the skin without even stopping for a straw raincoat or hat. The phrase "mi o shiru ame," the rain that knows one's station, was a favorite of later poets.
The author, "Ariwara no Narihira Ason," was the fifth son of Prince Abo, a son of Emperor Heizei, and his mother was Princess Ito, a daughter of Emperor Kanmu. He served as provisional middle captain of the Right Palace Guards, among other posts, is counted among both the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and is regarded as the model for the hero of The Tales of Ise.
The first line, "kazukazu ni," means "in many ways," referring to how much the lover cares for her.
The second line, "omoi omowazu," means "whether you love me or not," expressing her inability to gauge his heart.
The third line, "toigatami," means "because it is hard to ask," the stem of the adjective "toigatashi" with the causal suffix "mi"; the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "mi o shiru ame wa," means "the rain that makes me know my place," overlaying the rain with the woman's tears.
The final line, "furi zo masareru," means "it falls ever harder," with the particle "zo" closed by "ru," the attributive form of the continuative "ri," in a kakari-musubi.
- Author
- Ariwara no Narihira
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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