わび果つる時さへものの悲しきは
いづこを忍ぶ心なるらん
いづこを忍ぶ心なるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Wabihatsuru toki sae mono no kanashiki wa izuko o shinobu kokoro naruran
- English Translation
-
Even at the time
when I have grieved to the end,
still there is sorrow—
what part of him, I wonder,
can my heart be longing for
- Meaning
- Even now, when I have grieved myself to the end, I still feel a nameless sorrow—what part of him can my heart still be longing for?
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems V 936
Headnote: "Composed when a man had forgotten her."
The poet says that even when she has grieved to the end, she still feels sorrow, and wonders what part of him her heart still longs for. Forgotten, having grieved herself out and supposedly given up, she questions her own lingering attachment in a sorrow that will not fade.
According to the headnote, she composed it when a man had forgotten her. The next poem, 937, is also by Ise, so two of her poems stand together.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and won the emperor's favor. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, her "naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The first line, "Wabihatsuru," means "having grieved to the end."
The second line, "toki sae mono no," means "even at such a time, somehow," with "sae" an adverbial particle of addition.
The third line, "kanashiki wa," means "that I am sad."
The fourth line, "izuko o shinobu," means "longing for what part," asking herself where in him her heart still lingers.
The last line, "kokoro naruran," means "can my heart be," with "ran," a form of "ramu," guessing at a present cause.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ashihiki no yamashita shigeku yuku mizu no nagarete kaku shi towaba tanomamu
- Next Poem
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Inase tomo iihanatarezu uki mono wa mi o kokoro tomo senu yo narikeri