うつせみの人目を繁み逢はずして
年の経ぬれば生けりともなし
年の経ぬれば生けりともなし
- Roma-ji
-
Utsusemi no hitome o shigemi awazu shite toshi no henureba ikeri tomo nashi
- English Translation
-
The eyes of the world
are so many, so we never meet,
and now the years
have slipped away, and I
hardly feel alive
- Meaning
- Because the eyes of the world are everywhere, we have not met, and the years have passed until I hardly feel alive.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3107
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
The poet laments that, kept apart by the world's eyes, the years have passed until life hardly seems lived. With the reply in the next poem, it forms a question-and-answer pair.
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, "utsusemi no," is a pillow word for "hitome," as in poem 2932 in this book.
Line two, "hitome o shigemi," means "because there are so many eyes."
Line three, "awazu shite," means "without meeting."
Line four, "toshi no henureba," means "since the years have passed."
Line five, "ikeri tomo nashi," means "I hardly feel alive," the same final line as poems 2980 and 3060 in this book.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Aimimaku hoshiki ga tame wa kimi yori mo ware zo masarite ibukashimi suru
- Next Poem
-
Utsusemi no hitome shigeku wa nubatama no yoru no ime ni o tsugite mie koso