忘れ草種とらましを逢ふことの
いとかく難きものと知りせば
いとかく難きものと知りせば
- Roma-ji
-
Wasuregusa tane toramashi o au koto no ito kaku kataki mono to shiriseba
- English Translation
-
Of the forgetting grass
I should have gathered the seeds,
had I only known
that to meet with one I love
would be so hard as this
- Meaning
- I should have gathered seeds of the forgetting grass, had I known that meeting you would be this hard.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 765
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poem regrets not having prepared seeds of the forgetting grass, which makes one forget love, had the speaker known how hard it would be to meet. The wish to rely on this almost medicinal plant reveals a longing to escape love's pain. The next poem also speaks of the forgetting grass, and the two form a pair.
The first line names the daylily, believed to make one forget sorrow when worn. The same word appears in the third line of the next poem.
The second line uses the counterfactual mashi: I should have taken the seeds. The poem breaks here, and by inversion the lower verse gives the reason.
The third line, "meeting," is the subject of "hard" in the fourth line.
In the fourth line ito kaku means "this much," stressing how hard meeting is.
In the last line seba, the conditional of the past ki, pairs with mashi in the second line to complete the counterfactual.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Yama no i no asaki kokoro mo omowanu ni kage bakari nomi hito no miyuramu
- Next Poem
-
Kouredomo au yo no naki wa wasuregusa yumeji ni sae ya oishigeruramu