逢ひも見ず嘆きも初めずありし時
思ふことこそ身になかりしか
思ふことこそ身になかりしか
- Roma-ji
-
Ai mo mizu nageki mo somezu arishi toki omou koto koso mi ni nakarishika
- English Translation
-
Before we had met,
before my sighing had begun,
in those days of old,
brooding thoughts were something
that had no place in me
- Meaning
- In the days before we met, before I had begun to grieve, brooding was something I never knew.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 582
Headnote: "Sent to someone."
The poet says that in the days before they met, before he had begun to grieve, brooding was something he never knew. Looking back on the calm days before he knew love, he laments his present pain.
563 in this book also contrasts the heart before and after meeting.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Ai mo mizu," means "without meeting."
The second line, "nageki mo somezu," means "before I had begun to grieve."
The third line, "arishi toki," means "in the days when I lived so."
The fourth line, "omou koto koso," means "brooding thoughts," with "koso" an emphatic particle.
The last line, "mi ni nakarishika," means "had no place in me," closing with the perfective "shika" in answer to "koso" in the fourth line and leaving a lingering concessive tone.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kaku kouru mono to shiriseba yoru wa okite akureba kiyuru tsuyu naramashi o
- Next Poem
-
Koi no goto warinaki mono wa nakarikeri katsu mutsuretsutsu katsu zo koishiki