夕されば我が身のみこそ悲しけれ
いづれの方に枕定めむ
いづれの方に枕定めむ
- Roma-ji
-
Yūsareba waga mi nomi koso kanashikere izure no kata ni makura sadamemu
- English Translation
-
When evening comes,
it is only I, myself,
who feel such grief—
in which direction, then,
shall I set my pillow
- Meaning
- When evening falls, it is I alone who am filled with sorrow. In which direction should I lay my pillow?
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 739
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that when evening comes she alone is sorrowful, and wonders in which direction to set her pillow. Drawing on the belief that the direction of one's pillow lets one see a beloved in dreams, she voices the loneliness of a night with no hope of meeting him even in a dream.
Like the Kokin Wakashū poem "yoiyoi ni makura sadamemu kata mo nashi," it sings of choosing the direction of one's pillow.
The poet, listed as "Kanemochi no Ason no musume," was a daughter of Fujiwara no Kanemochi. Her father, a son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto and the elder brother of Fujiwara no Kanesuke, served as Consultant.
The first line, "Yūsareba," means "when evening comes."
The second line, "waga mi nomi koso," means "I alone," with "koso" an emphatic particle.
The third line, "kanashikere," means "am sorrowful," closing with the perfective "kere" in answer to "koso" in the second line, a kakarimusubi pattern. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "izure no kata ni," means "in which direction."
The last line, "makura sadamemu," means "shall I set my pillow," referring to choosing its direction so as to see one's love in a dream.
- Author
- Daughter of Fujiwara no Kanemochi
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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