ありとだに聞くべきものを逢坂の
関のあなたぞはるけかりける
関のあなたぞはるけかりける
- Roma-ji
-
Ari to dani kikubeki mono o ausaka no seki no anata zo harukekarikeru
- English Translation
-
I'd wish at least
to hear that you are still well,
but at Ausaka,
the land beyond the barrier
is so very far away
- Meaning
- I would like at least to hear that you are well, but the land beyond the Ausaka barrier is so very far away.
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems V 981
Headnote: "Sent by a woman who, before she had wholly parted from her husband, had come to know another man, on hearing that her former husband had gone to the East."
The poet says she would at least like to hear that he is well, but the land beyond the Ausaka barrier is far away. She laments a distance so great that not even news of her former husband, gone to the eastern provinces, reaches her, and conveys an attachment she cannot sever.
According to the headnote, a woman who had become close to another man before fully parting from her husband sent this on hearing that her former husband had gone east. From this poem through 984, four poems exchanged around the Ausaka barrier follow one another. Ausaka also appears in 905 in this book.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Ari to dani," means "at least that you are well," with "dani" an adverbial particle marking a minimal wish.
The second line, "kikubeki mono o," means "I would hear, and yet," with "mono o" an adversative conjunctive particle.
The third line, "ausaka no," means "of Ausaka," the barrier on the road to the East.
The fourth line, "seki no anata zo," means "beyond the barrier," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle.
The last line, "harukekarikeru," means "is so far away," closing the "zo" of the fourth line with the attributive "keru."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Izukata ni kotozute yarite karigane no au koto mare ni ima wa naruran
- Next Poem
-
Sekimori ga aratamaru chō ausaka no yūtsukedori wa nakitsutsu zo yuku