逢ふことのもはら絶えぬる時にこそ
人の恋しきことも知りけれ
人の恋しきことも知りけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Au koto no mohara taenuru toki ni koso hito no koishiki koto mo shirikere
- English Translation
-
Only at the time
when our meetings came at last
to an utter end,
did I come to understand
how dear the one I loved was
- Meaning
- Only when our meetings had ceased entirely did I come to know how much I longed for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 812
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Only after their meetings had stopped altogether did the speaker realize how much he longed for the other. The irony of love, learning the depth of feeling only after losing what went unnoticed while it lasted, is expressed with simplicity.
The first line, "meeting," is the subject of taenuru in the second line.
In the second line mohara means "entirely," and nuru, attributive of the perfective, means "has ceased entirely."
In the third line koso stresses the time and is resolved by kere in the last line: only then.
The fourth line, "that one is dear," speaks of the depth of longing.
In the last line kere, the perfective of keri, resolves koso and closes with the realization: I have come to know it only now.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Sore o dani omou koto tote waga yado o miki to na iiso hito no kikaku ni
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Wabihatsuru toki sae mono no kanashiki wa izuko o shinobu namida naruramu