人恋ふる涙は春ぞぬるみける
絶えぬおもひのわかすなるべし
絶えぬおもひのわかすなるべし
- Roma-ji
-
Hito kouru namida wa haru zo nurumikeru taenu omoi no wakasu narubeshi
- English Translation
-
Tears of longing
in the spring grow warm,
for, I would think,
the fire of love that never dies
must be heating them
- Meaning
- The tears of one who longs grow warm in spring; surely it is the never-dying fire of love that heats them.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 546
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet answers that the tears of one who longs grow warm in spring, surely because the never-dying fire of love heats them. Whereas the preceding poem said the tears deepen in color, she wittily shifts from color to warmth, saying the fire of love warms the tears.
It is a reply to the preceding poem by Fujiwara no Tokihira. It answers "namida mo haru wa" with "namida wa haru zo," recasting the color that "deepens" as warmth that "grows tepid."
The poet, called "Ise," was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and later received the emperor's favor. A leading woman poet of the Kokinshū era, she is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "Hito kouru," means "longing for someone," the same line that opens 514 in this book.
The second line, "namida wa haru zo," means "tears, in spring," taking up "namida mo haru wa" in the fourth line of the preceding poem. "Zo" is an emphatic particle.
The third line, "nurumikeru," means "grow warm," closing with the attributive "keru" in answer to "zo" in the second line. The poem pauses here.
In the fourth line, "omoi" is a pivot word meaning both "love" and "fire."
The last line, "wakasu narubeshi," means "it must be heating them," with "wakasu," to heat, an associated word with fire.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Koro o hete aiminu toki wa shiratama no namida mo haru wa iro masarikeri
- Next Poem
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Tsurashi to mo ikaga uramin hototogisu waga yado chikaku naku koe wa sede