水泡なす仮れる身ぞとは知れれども
なほし願ひつ千年の命を
なほし願ひつ千年の命を
- Roma-ji
-
Mitsubo nasu kareru mi zo to wa shireredomo naoshi negaitsu chitose no inochi o
- English Translation
-
Like the water's foam
a borrowed body is mine,
this I know full well,
yet still I find I have prayed
for a life of a thousand years
- Meaning
- I know this body is only borrowed, fleeting as foam on water, and yet I still find myself praying for a thousand years of life.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4470
Headnote: "A poem composed wishing for long life."
I know this borrowed body is fleeting as foam, yet still I have prayed for a thousand years of life: the poem wishes for long life while knowing all is impermanent. The left note says it closes the six poems Yakamochi composed on the seventeenth day of the sixth month. Though he sought the Way in the two poems before, he frankly admits a very human clinging to life that he cannot let go.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.
The first line, "mitsubo nasu," "like foam on water," is a figure for fleetingness.
The second line, "kareru mi zo to wa," "that this body is borrowed," shows the Buddhist view of impermanence.
The third line, "shireredomo," "though I know it," turns concessively to the lower half.
The fourth line, "naoshi negaitsu," with the intensifier shi: still I have prayed. The poem pauses here.
The closing line, "chitose no inochi o," is inverted, naming afterward what he prayed for. It stands in contrast to the seeking of the Way in the two poems before.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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