ともすれば玉にくらべしますかがみ
人の宝と見るぞ悲しき
人の宝と見るぞ悲しき
- Roma-ji
-
Tomosureba tama ni kurabeshi masukagami hito no takara to miru zo kanashiki
- English Translation
-
So often have I
likened it to jewels,
this clear mirror,
that to see it now another's
treasure fills me with sorrow
- Meaning
- It is sad to see the clear mirror I so often likened to a jewel now become another person's treasure.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 556
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says it is sad to see the clear mirror he so often likened to a jewel now become another's treasure. Likening the beloved he once cherished to a mirror, he laments that she now belongs to someone else.
Likening a cherished lover to a treasured mirror, the poem expresses the sorrow of lost love through its passing into another's hands.
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, "Tomosureba," means "time and again."
The second line, "tama ni kurabeshi," means "that I likened to a jewel," showing how dearly it was cherished.
The third line, "masukagami," is a clear, bright mirror, a figure for the cherished beloved.
The fourth line, "hito no takara to," means "as another's treasure."
The last line, "miru zo kanashiki," means "it is sad to see," the particle "zo" and the attributive "kanashiki" forming a kakarimusubi pattern. It is the same line that closes 561 in this book.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Ikade kaku kokoro hitotsu o futashie ni uku mo tsuraku mo nashite misuran
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Iwaseyama tani no shitamizu uchishinobi hito no minu ma wa nagarete zo furu