草枕このたび経つる年月の
憂きはかへりてうれしからなん
憂きはかへりてうれしからなん
- Roma-ji
-
Kusamakura kono tabi hetsuru toshitsuki no uki wa kaerite ureshikaranan
- English Translation
-
On this journey,
pillowed on grass, the months and years
I have passed in grief—
now that you have come back home,
let them turn instead to joy
- Meaning
- The sorrow of the months and years that passed while you were on this journey—now that you have returned, let it turn instead to joy.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Love Poems II 692
Headnote: "In reply when a man came back from a journey and said he had just arrived."
The poet hopes that the sorrow of the months and years passed while he was on his journey will, now that he is back, turn instead to joy. Welcoming a man home from a long journey, she wishes that the pain of waiting may change into gladness.
According to the headnote, it was her reply when the man returned from a journey and wrote that he had just arrived.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Kusamakura," is a pillow word for "journey."
In the second line, "tabi" is a pivot word joining "tabi," journey, and "tabi," this time: "spent on this journey."
The third line, "toshitsuki no," means "of the months and years."
In the fourth line, "kaerite" is a pivot word joining "you have returned" and "kaette," on the contrary.
The last line, "ureshikaranan," means "may it be joyful," with "nan" a particle expressing a wish directed at another.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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