白雲の絶えずたなびく峰にだに
住めば住みぬる世にこそありけれ
住めば住みぬる世にこそありけれ
- Roma-ji
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Shirakumo no taezu tanabiku mine ni dani sumeba suminuru yo ni koso arikere
- English Translation
-
White clouds without end
trail along the mountain peak,
and yet even there,
if one lives, one lives on:
such, I find, is this world.
- Meaning
- Even on a peak where white clouds trail without end, if one lives there, one can live; such, I have found, is this world.
- Commentary
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Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 945
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that even in a remote place like a peak forever wrapped in white clouds, one can live there once one tries. Taking up the ease of mountain life from the previous poem, it expresses the feeling that anywhere can become home.
Prince Koretaka never came to the throne and later took the tonsure and lived in seclusion at Ono, at the foot of Mount Hiei. With this in mind, his acceptance of life deep in the mountains reads all the more deeply. Ariwara no Narihira's poem 970 in this book was written after visiting the prince at Ono through the snow.
The author, "Koretaka no Miko," is Prince Koretaka, eldest son of Emperor Montoku; his mother was Shizuko, daughter of Ki no Natora. He associated with Ariwara no Narihira and others, and in his later years became a monk and lived at Ono.
The first line, "white clouds," refers to clouds hanging over the mountains.
The second line, "trail along ... without end," describes clouds drifting in long horizontal bands.
The third line, "and yet even there," uses dani, which names a lesser case to imply a greater one.
The fourth line, "if one lives, one lives on," repeats the same verb to express the strange power of habit.
The last line, "such, I find, is this world," closes the koso construction with the perfective form kere.
- Author
- Prince Koretaka
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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