世の常の人の心をまだ見ねば
何かこのたび消ぬべきものを
何かこのたび消ぬべきものを
- Roma-ji
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Yo no tsune no hito no kokoro o mada mineba nani ka kono tabi kenubeki mono o
- English Translation
-
The way of the world,
a lover's heart that changes—
I had not yet seen it,
so why else would I now
be all but fading away
- Meaning
- I had never yet known the heart that changes as the world's way has it—why else would I now feel as though I might fade away?
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems IV 831
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that she has never yet seen the heart that changes in the way of the world, which is why she now feels she might fade away. To one who consoled her that a change of heart is ordinary, she replies that she grieves so deeply because she is learning it for the first time.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 830, taking its last words, "yo no tsune," into her first line.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and received Uda's favor. Later she bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. She is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "Yo no tsune no," means "of the common way of the world," taking up "yo no tsune" from the last line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "hito no kokoro o," means "a person's change of heart."
The third line, "mada mineba," means "since I have not yet seen it," with "ba" marking a settled condition.
The fourth line, "nani ka kono tabi," means "why, this time," with "ka" interrogative.
The last line, "kenubeki mono o," means "should I be fading away," with "beki" expressing the natural outcome and "mono o" an adversative tinged with feeling.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hitaburu ni omoi na wabi so furusaruru hito no kokoro wa sore zo yo no tsune
- Next Poem
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Sumizome no kurama no yama ni iru hito wa tadoru tadoru mo kaeri kinanan