山城の淀の若菰かりにだに
来ぬ人頼む我ぞはかなき
来ぬ人頼む我ぞはかなき
- Roma-ji
-
Yamashiro no yodo no wakakomo kari ni dani konu hito tanomu ware zo hakanaki
- English Translation
-
As young water-oats
at Yodo in Yamashiro
are reaped for a while,
I trust one who won't come even so;
how fleeting and vain am I
- Meaning
- How foolish I am to rely on someone who will not come even for a passing visit, as men come to reap the young water-oats of Yodo in Yamashiro.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 759
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poem laments the folly of still relying on someone who will not come even in passing. The first two lines form a preface, drawing kari ni from the image of reaping young water-oats at Yodo. Following "you do not come" in the preceding poem, poems grieving over an absent lover continue.
The first line names the province of Yamashiro, leading to the place name Yodo.
The second line names young water-oats growing by the Yodo River, plants that are cut, forming a preface to kari in the third line.
In the third line kari is a pivot word, meaning both to reap the oats and "temporary." Dani adds "even."
The fourth line speaks of relying on one who does not come, the contradiction of trusting though knowing better.
In the last line zo stresses "I," resolved by the attributive hakanaki. It is exasperation at relying on the unreliable.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Suma no ama no shioyaki goromo osa o arami madō ni are ya kimi ga kimasanu
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Aimineba koi koso masare minasegawa nani ni fukamete omoisomekemu