泣き流す涙のいとど添ひぬれば
はかなきみづも袖濡らしけり
はかなきみづも袖濡らしけり
- Roma-ji
-
Nakinagasu namida no itodo soinureba hakanaki mizu mo sode nurashikeri
- English Translation
-
The tears I weep
have flowed and swelled the more,
and so even this
slight water, "I have seen,"
has drenched my sleeves through
- Meaning
- My flowing tears have swelled all the more, so that even this slight water—your bare "I have seen it"—has soaked my sleeves.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 764
Headnote: "Sent when he had written to Lady Machijiri and her reply said only, 'I have seen it.'"
The poet says that as his tears have increased, even the slight water of "I have seen it" has wet his sleeves. Playing on "mitsu," "I have seen," and "mizu," water, he laments the curtness of a reply that said only that she had seen his letter.
According to the headnote, he wrote to Lady Machijiri, and her reply said only "mitsu," "I have seen it," so he sent this poem.
The poet, listed as "Morouchi no Ason," was Fujiwara no Morouji. A son of Regent Fujiwara no Tadahira, he served as Major Counselor.
The first line, "Nakinagasu," means "weeping and shedding."
The second line, "namida no itodo," means "my tears all the more."
The third line, "soinureba," means "since they have swelled."
In the fourth line, "hakanaki mizu mo," "mizu" is a pivot word meaning both "mitsu," "I have seen," in her reply and "mizu," water.
The last line, "sode nurashikeri," means "has wet my sleeves," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Morouji
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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