いくばくも生けらじ命を恋ひつつぞ
我れは息づく人に知らえず
我れは息づく人に知らえず
- Roma-ji
-
Ikubaku mo ikeraji inochi o koitsutsu zo ware wa ikizuku hito ni shiraezu
- English Translation
-
This life of mine
that cannot last for long,
in longing still
I spend it, sighing deep,
with no one knowing why
- Meaning
- With a life that cannot last much longer, I go on longing and sighing, and no one knows.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2905
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
The poet spends a short, limited life in the sighs of love while hiding it from others. The fragility of life and a secret love are laid over each other, giving the poem a plaintive tone.
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, "ikubaku mo," means "not much," and corresponds with a negative.
Line two, "ikeraji inochi o," means "a life that will not last."
Line three, "koitsutsu zo," means "while longing," with "zo" concluded by the attributive "ikizuku" in line four.
Line four, "ware wa ikizuku," means "I sigh."
Line five, "hito ni shiraezu," means "unknown to others," the inversion adding the pain of a hidden love. The same line appears in poems 2861 and 2928 in this book.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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