数ふればとまらぬものを年と言ひて
今年はいたく老いぞしにける
今年はいたく老いぞしにける
- Roma-ji
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Kazoureba tomaranu mono o toshi to iite kotoshi wa itaku oi zo shinikeru
- English Translation
-
Though when counted up
they never stay but pass,
we call them years—
and in this year I have grown
old indeed, so very old.
- Meaning
- Though they never stay, however we count them, we call them years, and this year I have grown terribly old.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 893
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Years do not stay however one counts them, yet in naming and counting them, the speaker has grown very old this year. The contrast between passing time and the human act of counting it holds the reality of age. The author is unknown.
A left note says, "These three poems are said to have been composed by three old men of long ago," so the three poems from 893 to 895 are traditionally ascribed to three old men, one each.
First line "kazoureba" shows the act of counting the years on one's fingers.
Second line "tomaranu mono o" uses the adversative mono o: though it is something that never stays.
Third line "toshi to iite" speaks of naming passing time "a year" and dividing it; the line is hypermetric.
Fourth line "kotoshi wa itaku": itaku means severely. "Year" and "this year" echo each other.
Fifth line "oi zo shinikeru" closes zo with the attributive keru, lamenting strongly how deep age has grown.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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