常もなき夏の草葉に置く露を
命と頼む蝉のはかなさ
命と頼む蝉のはかなさ
- Roma-ji
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Tsune mo naki natsu no kusaba ni oku tsuyu o inochi to tanomu semi no hakanasa
- English Translation
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On the summer grass,
on leaves so ever-changing,
the dew that settles—
trusting it to be its life,
how fleeting the cicada is
- Meaning
- Trusting the dew that settles on the ever-changing summer grass to be its very life—how fleeting is the cicada.
- Commentary
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Book Four Summer Poems 193
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poem sings of the fleetingness of the cicada, which relies for its life on dew settling on the ever-changing summer grass. In a short-lived insect living on dew that soon vanishes, the poet sees the impermanence of the world.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Tsune mo naki," means "not abiding, ever-changing," expressing a sense of impermanence.
The second line, "natsu no kusaba ni," means "on the leaves of summer grass."
The third line, "oku tsuyu o," means "the dew that settles," a fleeting thing that soon vanishes.
The fourth line, "inochi to tanomu," means "relying on it as its life," drawing on the belief that cicadas lived by drinking dew.
The last line, "semi no hakanasa," ends on a noun, focusing on the fleetingness of the short-lived cicada. Following the preceding poem, 192, it again sings of the cicada.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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