我を君難波の浦にありしかば
うきめをみつのあまとなりにき
うきめをみつのあまとなりにき
- Roma-ji
-
Ware o kimi naniwa no ura ni arishikaba ukime o mitsu no ama to nariniki
- English Translation
-
Because you left me
there upon Naniwa's shore,
I saw bitter days,
and, like the weed at Mitsu,
I have become a nun.
- Meaning
- Because you left me neglected on the shore of Naniwa, I have seen bitter days and have become a nun at Mitsu.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 973
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
According to the left note, a woman whose lover had stopped visiting her went to a temple at Mitsu in Naniwa, became a nun, and sent this poem to the man. She expresses the bitterness that led her to take vows through a chain of words tied to the shore of Naniwa.
Ukime, mitsu and ama are all words associated with the seashore, and at the same time mean "bitter experience," "I have seen" and "nun," so her grief is told in the language of a seaside scene. The following poems, 974 and 975, are said to be replies, forming a group of exchanged poems.
The author is recorded as anonymous, and the name has not come down to us.
The first line, "because you left me," introduces the situation of a woman neglected by her lover, described in the lines that follow.
The second line, "upon Naniwa's shore," names where she lived and sets the scene for the associated words that follow.
The third line, "there," renders arishikaba, "since I was there," with shika, the perfective form of the past ki, giving an established condition.
The fourth line contains pivot words: ukime, "bitter experience" and "floating seaweed," and mitsu, "I have seen" and the place name Mitsu.
The last line, "I have become a nun," contains the pivot word ama, "nun" and "fisherfolk." Ni is perfective and ki past.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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No to naraba uzura to nakite toshi wa hemu kari ni dani ya wa kimi ga kozaramu
- Next Poem
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Naniwagata uramu beki ma mo omooezu izuko o mitsu no ama to ka wa naru