月日をも数へけるかな君恋ふる
数をも知らぬ我が身何なり
数をも知らぬ我が身何なり
- Roma-ji
-
Tsukihi o mo kazoekeru kana kimi kouru kazu o mo shiranu waga mi nani nari
- English Translation
-
So even the months
and days you have been counting!
And I, who longing for you
cannot count how many times—
what am I, then, after all
- Meaning
- So you have been counting even the months and days! Then what am I, who longs for you more times than I could ever count?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 543
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet answers, "So you have been counting even the months and days!" and asks what he must be, who cannot count how many times he has longed for her. To the reproach that he let the promised time pass, he replies that his longing is beyond all counting.
It is a reply to the preceding poem. It answers "tsukihi o sugusu" with "tsukihi o mo kazoekeru," turning her counting of days to his advantage to show the depth of his love.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."
The first line, "Tsukihi o mo," means "even the months and days," taking up "tsukihi o sugusu" in the second line of the preceding poem.
In the second line, "kana" is an exclamatory particle: "so you have been counting!" The poem pauses here.
The third line, "kimi kouru," means "longing for you."
The fourth line, "kazu o mo shiranu," means "not knowing even how many times," answering "kazoe," counting, in the second line.
The last line, "waga mi nani nari," means "what am I, then?"
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kon to iishi tsukihi o sugusu Obasute no yama no ha tsuraki mono ni zo arikeru
- Next Poem
-
Konome haru haru no yamada o uchikaeshi omoiyaminishi hito zo koishiki