世の中にさらぬ別れのなくもがな
千代もと嘆く人の子のため
千代もと嘆く人の子のため
- Roma-ji
-
Yo no naka ni saranu wakare no naku mo gana chiyo mo to nageku hito no ko no tame
- English Translation
-
Would that this world
had no parting that must come,
for the sake of sons
who pray a thousand years
for those who gave them life.
- Meaning
- If only there were no inescapable parting in this world, for the sake of children who pray that their parents live a thousand years.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 901
Headnote: "Reply"
Narihira's reply to his mother's poem. He wishes there were no inescapable parting in the world and speaks for the child who prays for a parent to live a thousand years, conveying his deep love for his mother.
The author, "Narihira no Ason," is Ariwara no Narihira, son of Prince Abo, himself a son of Emperor Heizei, and one of the Six Poetic Immortals.
This exchange also appears in Episode 84 of The Tales of Ise.
First line "yo no naka ni" directs the wish broadly to the whole world.
Second line "saranu wakare no" answers by taking up directly the "parting none can escape" of the preceding poem, 900.
Third line "naku mo gana": mo gana is a final particle of wishing, "if only there were none"; the poem pauses here.
Fourth line "chiyo mo to nageku" means praying in grief that a parent might live a thousand years.
Fifth line "hito no ko no tame" ends with a noun, generalizing to all children while carrying his own feeling.
- Author
- Ariwara no Narihira
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Oinureba saranu wakare mo ari to ieba iyoiyo mimaku hoshiki kimi kana
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Shirayuki no yae furishikeru kaeruyama kaerugaeru mo oinikeru kana