飽かでこそ思はむ仲は離れなめ
そをだに後の忘れ形見に
そをだに後の忘れ形見に
- Roma-ji
-
Akade koso omowamu naka wa hanarename so o dani nochi no wasuregatami ni
- English Translation
-
Before we grow tired—
that is when two who love
ought to part their ways;
let that at least remain for us,
a keepsake for days to come.
- Meaning
- Lovers ought to part before they tire of each other; let that, at least, be a keepsake to remember in the days to come.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 717
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Before they tire of each other and their hearts cool, the speaker proposes, let them part while still in love, and keep that feeling as a keepsake for later. Foreseeing love's decline, the poem carries a clear-eyed resolve and sorrow, wishing to end while the memory is still beautiful.
Taking up "wasurenu mono no karenu beranari" in the preceding poem, it moves on to a heart that chooses parting for itself. "Wasuregatami" (keepsake) anticipates the sequence on keepsakes, 743 through 746, at the end of the book, and poems on forgetting continue with "wasurenamu" in the next two, 718 and 719.
The first line, "akade koso," means "precisely before we tire," with the particle "koso" forming a kakari-musubi with "me" in the third line.
The second line, "omowamu naka wa," means "lovers who care for each other," the "mu" here softening the expression.
The third line, "hanarename," means "they had best part," the intensive "na" joined to "me," the perfective form of "mu" expressing suitability, completing the "koso"; the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "so o dani nochi no," means "at least that, for later," "so" pointing to their parting before growing tired.
The final line, "wasuregatami ni," means "as a keepsake so as not to forget," with the words that would follow left unsaid, leaving a lingering resonance.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Utsusemi no yo no hitogoto no shigekereba wasurenu mono no karenu beranari
- Next Poem
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Wasurenamu to omou kokoro no tsuku kara ni arishi yori ke ni mazu zo koishiki