人心憂さこそまされ春立てば
とまらず消ゆるゆき隠れなむ
とまらず消ゆるゆき隠れなむ
- Roma-ji
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Hitogokoro usa koso masare haru tateba tomarazu kiyuru yuki kakurenamu
- English Translation
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That person's heart—
its cruelty only grows;
now spring has risen,
like the snow that melts away,
I too shall go and vanish
- Meaning
- Her cruelty only deepens. Now that spring has come, I too shall vanish away, like the snow that cannot linger and melts.
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems I 30
Headnote: "A woman he had loved for years said, 'At least wait out this one year,' yet the following year she was still cold to him."
Unable to bear the coldness of a woman he had long loved, the poet resolves to vanish like snow that melts in spring. Playing on "yuki" as both "snow" and "going," he entrusts his despair in love to a seasonal image.
According to the headnote, the woman he had cared for over many years asked him to wait at least through the year, yet she remained cold even the next year, and so he composed this.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "That person's heart," indicates the woman's feelings.
In the second line, the particle "koso" forms a kakarimusubi pattern with the perfective "masare," stressing that his pain only grows. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "now spring has risen," leads to the season when snow melts.
The fourth line, "like the snow that melts away," depicts snow vanishing without lingering.
In the last line, "yuki" is a pivot word joining "snow" and "going." "Namu" expresses firm intention: as the snow vanishes, so will he go away and hide.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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