心からうきたる舟に乗りそめて
一日も波に濡れぬ日ぞなき
一日も波に濡れぬ日ぞなき
- Roma-ji
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Kokoro kara ukitaru fune ni norisomete hitohi mo nami ni nurenu hi zo naki
- English Translation
-
Of my own heart's will
I boarded a drifting boat
of sorrow, and since then
not a single day has passed
unsoaked by the waves
- Meaning
- By my own choosing I set out in a drifting, sorrowful boat, and since then there has not been a single day when I was not soaked by the waves.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Love Poems III 779
Headnote: "When the man's manner gradually seemed to grow cold."
The poet says that having boarded a drifting boat of her own will, there is not a day she is not wet with the waves. Likening her choice of an uncertain love to setting out in a floating boat, she laments days spent continually wet with tears.
According to the headnote, the poem was composed as the man's manner gradually seemed to grow cold. 768 in this book likewise likens an "ukitaru koi," a floating love, to a boat rowing through an inlet, using the same conceit.
The poet, listed as "Komachi," was Ono no Komachi. One of the Six Poetic Geniuses and the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, her "hana no iro wa utsurinikeri na itazura ni" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The first line, "Kokoro kara," means "of my own heart, by my own will."
In the second line, "ukitaru fune ni," "uki" is a pivot word meaning both a boat "floating" and "uki," sorrowful. It uses the same word as "ukitaru koi mo" in the fourth line of 768 in this book.
The third line, "norisomete," means "having first boarded," figuring the start of a love.
The fourth line, "hitohi mo nami ni," means "not one day, by the waves," where "nami," waves, is layered with "namida," tears.
The last line, "nurenu hi zo naki," means "there is no day unsoaked," with "zo" an emphatic particle closing on the attributive "naki," a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Ono no Komachi
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ima wa tote yukikaerinuru koe naraba oikaze nite mo kikoemashi ya wa
- Next Poem
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Wasurenan to omou kokoro no yasukaraba tsurenaki hito o uramimashi ya wa