蓮葉のはひにぞ人は思ふらん
世にはこひぢの中に生ひつつ
世にはこひぢの中に生ひつつ
- Roma-ji
-
Hachisuba no hai ni zo hito wa omouran yo ni wa koiji no naka ni oitsutsu
- English Translation
-
As a lotus root
people must think of me, I'm sure,
for in this world
in the mire of love's road
I keep on growing still
- Meaning
- People must think of me as the young root of a lotus, for in this world I keep on growing in the mire—the mire of love.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1088
Headnote: "On taking up the young root of a lotus."
The poet says that people must think of him as the young root of a lotus, for in this world he keeps on growing in the mire of love. Overlaying the lotus root growing in mud with himself sunk in the ways of love, he mocks himself through "koiji," which means both mud and the road of love.
According to the headnote, it was composed on taking up a lotus "hai," the young rootstock that lies in the mud.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Hachisuba no," means "of the lotus," naming the lotus that grows in mud as the subject.
The second line, "hai ni zo hito wa," means "as a lotus root, people," with "hai" the young underground stem of the lotus. "Zo" is an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "ran" in the third line.
The third line, "omouran," means "must think," with "ran" conjecture about the present, closing the "zo" of the second line. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "yo ni wa koiji no," means "in this world, of the mire," with "koiji" joining mud and the road of love.
The last line, "naka ni oitsutsu," means "growing on within it," with "tsutsu" continuation. Coming after the pause at the third line, it adds the reason in inverted order.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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