人の上のこととし言へば知らぬかな
君も恋する折もこそあれ
君も恋する折もこそあれ
- Roma-ji
-
Hito no ue no koto to shi ieba shiranu kana kimi mo koisuru ori mo koso are
- English Translation
-
When it is something
that happens to another,
you know nothing of it—
but there may well come a time
when you too fall in love
- Meaning
- When it concerns someone else, you know nothing of it; but a time may well come when you too are in love.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 591
Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
The poet says that when it concerns someone else, she knows nothing of it, but a time may well come when she too is in love. To a woman who will not understand the pain of his love, he warns that one day she will feel the same.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman. The next poem is her reply, and the two form a pair of exchanged poems.
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, "Hito no ue no," has an extra syllable and means "concerning another person."
In the second line, "shi" is an emphatic particle: "when it is said to be such a matter."
The third line, "shiranu kana," means "you act as if you know nothing," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "kimi mo koisuru," means "you too will love." "Koin to mo sezu" in the last line of the next poem takes this up.
The last line, "ori mo koso are," means "a time will surely come," the particle "koso" and the perfective "are" forming a kakarimusubi pattern, with a hint that it may prove a troubling time.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Yukukata mo naku sekaretaru yamamizu no iwamahoshiku mo omōyuru kana
- Next Poem
-
Tsurakaraba onaji kokoro ni tsurakaran tsurenaki hito o koin to mo sezu