これを見よ人もすさめぬ恋すとて
音を泣く虫のなれる姿を
音を泣く虫のなれる姿を
- Roma-ji
-
Kore o miyo hito mo susamenu koi su tote ne o naku mushi no nareru sugata o
- English Translation
-
Look upon this—
the form become of a creature
that cried aloud,
loving one who'd never give
a single glance its way
- Meaning
- Look at this: the shape that has become of an insect that cried its heart out for a love no one would ever heed.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 793
Headnote: "When he wrapped up a cicada's cast-off shell and sent it to a woman he had been talking with."
The poet asks her to look at what has become of an insect that cried aloud for a love no one heeds. Sending a cicada's empty shell, he pleads that it is his own form, emptied by weeping for love.
According to the headnote, the poem accompanied a cicada shell he wrapped and sent to a woman he had been exchanging words with. The text gives the second line as "hito mo susamenu," which does not match "hito mo susaenu" in the reading line. The text is followed here.
The poet, Minamoto no Shigemitsu, was a son of Prince Yoakira, a son of Emperor Daigo, and served as Provisional Major Counselor.
The first line, "Kore o miyo," means "look at this," referring to the cicada shell he sent. The poem pauses here, in inverted order with the lines that follow.
The second line, "hito mo susamenu," means "that no one heeds."
The third line, "koi su tote," means "for being in love."
The fourth line, "ne o naku mushi no," means "of the insect that cries aloud," with "naku" layering an insect's "singing" and a person's "weeping."
The last line, "nareru sugata o," means "the form it has become," likening the empty shell to himself, worn away by love.
- Author
- Minamoto no Shigemitsu
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Chiyo hemu to chigiriokiteshi himematsu no nezashisometeshi yado wa wasureji
- Next Poem
-
Aimite wa nagusamu ya to zo omoishi ni nagori shimo koso koishikarikere