ひとり居て恋ふるは苦し玉たすき
懸けず忘れむ事計りもが
懸けず忘れむ事計りもが
- Roma-ji
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Hitori ite kouru wa kurushi tamadasuki kakezu wasuremu kotohakari moga
- English Translation
-
Alone in my room,
how painful is this longing;
like a jeweled sash
I'd wear you in my heart no more,
if there were but a way
- Meaning
- Longing alone is so painful; if only there were some way to stop keeping you in my heart and forget.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2898
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
Unable to bear the pain of longing alone, the poet wishes for some means of forgetting altogether. The very wish to forget reveals how deep the feeling runs.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.
Line one, "hitori ite," means "being alone."
Line two, "kouru wa kurushi," means "longing is painful," and the poem pauses here.
Line three, "tamadasuki," is a pillow word for "kaku," to hang or keep in mind, from the sash hung over the shoulders. Poem 2992 in this book uses the same pillow word, "tamadasuki kakeneba kurushi."
Line four, "kakezu wasuremu," means "to forget, keeping you no longer in mind."
Line five, "kotohakari moga": "kotohakari" means a plan or means, and "moga" expresses a wish. The word "kotohakari" also appears in poems 2908 and 2949.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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