ふるさとにあらぬものから我がために
人の心の荒れて見ゆらむ
人の心の荒れて見ゆらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Furusato ni aranu mono kara waga tame ni hito no kokoro no arete miyuramu
- English Translation
-
Though it is no village
left to ruin long ago,
why, when it comes to me,
does your heart appear to be
laid waste and desolate?
- Meaning
- You are no old, deserted village, so why does your heart seem so desolate toward me?
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 741
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Though it is no old village abandoned by its people, the lover's heart toward her looks like a village gone to ruin—so the speaker laments. Overlaying the image of a desolate old village with the human heart, the poem vividly conveys a lover's heart grown cold.
It resonates through the word "are" (gone to ruin) with "arenishi toko" in 733 of this book, the lament deepening from a bed left desolate by ceased visits to the desolation of the lover's heart itself.
The author, "Ise," was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, governor of Ise, and served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda. She enjoyed Emperor Uda's favor and later bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. She is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The first line, "furusato ni," means "an old, ruined village," referring to a former capital or dwelling no longer visited.
The second line, "aranu mono kara," means "though it is not," "mono kara" being a concessive particle.
The third line, "waga tame ni," means "toward me."
The fourth line, "hito no kokoro no," means "your heart."
The final line, "arete miyuramu," means "why does it look desolate?", using "ramu" to surmise a cause, with "furusato" in the first line and "are" (ruin) forming associated words.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Ausaka no yūtsukedori ni araba koso kimi ga yukiki o nakunaku mo mime
- Next Poem
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Yamagatsu no kakio ni haeru aotsuzura hito wa kuredomo kotozute mo nashi