恋ふれども逢ふ夜なき身は忘れ草
夢路にさへや生ひ繁るらん
夢路にさへや生ひ繁るらん
- Roma-ji
-
Kouredomo au yo naki mi wa wasuregusa yumeji ni sae ya oishigeruran
- English Translation
-
Though I long for you,
no night of meeting is mine—
has forgetting-grass
grown so thick that it overruns
even the path of dreams
- Meaning
- Though I long for you, I have no night of meeting; has forgetting-grass grown so thick that it covers even the path of dreams?
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1060
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet asks whether, for one who longs yet has no night of meeting, forgetting-grass has grown thick even on the path of dreams. Not only can they not meet in waking life, but even in dreams they cannot, and he wonders whether forgetting-grass has blocked the very road of dreams.
Following the exchange of 1050 and 1051 in this book, it speaks of forgetting-grass, and it also echoes the "yumeji" of 1039. The forgetting-grass that grew at a house in the preceding exchange now spreads even over the path of dreams.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Kouredomo," means "though I long," with "domo" an adversative conjunctive particle.
The second line, "au yo naki mi wa," means "for one with no night of meeting."
The third line, "wasuregusa," is the day lily said to make one forget sorrow, overlaid with the beloved forgetting him. It is the same word as the first line of 1050 in this book.
The fourth line, "yumeji ni sae ya," means "even on the path of dreams," with "ya" an interrogative binding particle. "Yumeji" also appears in the fourth line of 1039 in this book.
The last line, "oishigeruran," means "has it grown thick," closing the "ya" of the fourth line with the attributive "ran."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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