富士の嶺の燃えわたるともいかがせむ
消ちこそ知らね水ならぬ身は
消ちこそ知らね水ならぬ身は
- Roma-ji
-
Fuji no ne no moewataru tomo ikaga semu kechi koso shirane mizu naranu mi wa
- English Translation
-
Though the peak of Fuji
may burn on and on, what then?
I do not know
how to quench it, for I am
not water, after all
- Meaning
- Even if you burn on like the peak of Fuji, what can I do? I know no way to put out the fire, for I am not water.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Love Poems II 648
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that even if he burns on like the peak of Fuji, she knows no way to put it out, since she is not water. Acknowledging the burning love of the preceding poem, she brushes it off curtly, saying there is nothing she can do.
It is a reply to the preceding poem, 647, taking up its "Fuji no ne" and "moete kie" and answering with words of fire such as "kechi" and "mizu."
The poet, called "Ki no Menoto," is the Ki Nurse. She served as wet nurse to Emperor Yōzei and is said to be Ki no Matako.
The first line, "Fuji no ne no," means "the peak of Fuji," taking up the last line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "moewataru tomo," means "even if it burns on and on."
The third line, "ikaga semu," means "what can I do," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "kechi koso shirane," means "I know no way to quench it," with "koso" emphatic and closing with "ne," the perfective of the negative "zu," a kakarimusubi pattern. It answers "kie" in the preceding poem with "kechi."
The last line, "mizu naranu mi wa," means "I who am not water," inverted with the fourth line.
- Author
- Ki no Menoto
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ware nomi ya moete kienan yo to tomo ni omoi mo naranu Fuji no ne no goto
- Next Poem
-
Wabiwataru waga mi wa tsuyu o onajiku wa kimi ga kakine no kusa ni kienan