わび人のそほつてふなる涙川
下り立ちてこそ濡れわたりけれ
下り立ちてこそ濡れわたりけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Wabibito no sohotsu chō naru namidagawa oritachite koso nurewatarikere
- English Translation
-
The River of Tears,
where the lovelorn, it is said,
are soaked to the skin—
it is because I waded in
that I am drenched through and through
- Meaning
- Into the River of Tears, where those who suffer in love are said to be soaked through, I have waded in myself, and so I go on drenched.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Love Poems II 610
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says he has waded into the River of Tears, where those who suffer in love are said to be soaked through, and remains drenched. He laments that he now knows firsthand the tears of love he had only heard of.
The next poem, 611, is Taifu's reply, and 612 is the poet's answer in turn, forming an exchange of three poems on the River of Tears.
The poet, Tachibana no Toshinaka, lived in the mid Heian period, and few details of his life have come down to us.
The first line, "Wabibito no," means "those who suffer in love."
The second line, "sohotsu chō naru," means "said to be soaked through."
The third line, "namidagawa," likens flowing tears to a river. The next poems, 611 and 612, also place "namidagawa" in their third lines, linking the exchange with the same word.
The fourth line, "oritachite koso," means "having waded in myself," that is, having thrown himself deep into love, with "koso" an emphatic particle.
The last line, "nurewatarikere," means "I go on drenched," closing with the perfective "kere" in answer to "koso" in the fourth line, a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Tachibana no Toshinaka
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Tomokakumo iu koto no ha no mienu kana izura wa tsuyu no kakaridokoro wa
- Next Poem
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Fuchise to mo kokoro mo shirazu namidagawa ori ya tatsu beki sode no nururu ni