わび人の住むべき宿と見るなへに
嘆き加はる琴の音ぞする
嘆き加はる琴の音ぞする
- Roma-ji
-
Wabibito no sumu beki yado to miru nae ni nageki kuwawaru koto no ne zo suru
- English Translation
-
As I look upon it
as a house where one who grieves
would surely dwell,
from within there comes the sound
of a koto adding sorrow.
- Meaning
- Just as I was thinking this must be a house where some unhappy soul lives, I heard the sound of a koto that only deepened the sorrow.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 985
Headnote: "Composed and sent in when, on my way to Nara, I heard a woman playing the koto in a ruined house"
On the way to Nara, the poet heard a woman playing the koto in a ruined house and sent this poem in to her. Looking at the dilapidated dwelling, he felt that the sound of the koto coming from it deepened the sadness all the more.
Taking up the ruined house of the previous poem, 984, it conveys the presence of the person living there through the sound of the koto.
The author, "Yoshimine no Munesada" as written in kana, is Yoshimine no Munesada, later the Archbishop Henjō. A grandson of Emperor Kanmu and son of Yoshimine no Yasuyo, he served Emperor Ninmyō and took the tonsure upon the emperor's death. He is one of the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "one who grieves," refers to someone living in disappointment and sorrow.
The second line, "a house where ... would surely dwell," means a dwelling fit for such a person.
The third line, "as I look upon it," uses nae ni, "along with, as."
The fourth line, "adding sorrow," means grief growing deeper.
The last line, "there comes the sound of a koto," uses zo with the attributive suru.
- Author
- Yoshimine no Munesada
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Arenikeri aware ikuyo no yado nare ya sumikemu hito no otozure mo senu
- Next Poem
-
Hito furusu sato o itoite koshikadomo nara no miyako mo uki na narikeri