classic waka stream

くやしくぞ天つ乙女となりにける
雲路尋ぬる人もなき世に
Roma-ji

Kuyashiku zo amatsu otome to narinikeru kumoji tazunuru hito mo naki yo ni

English Translation
How bitter it is
that I became a maiden
of the heavens,
in a world where no one comes
seeking the cloud-paths for me
Meaning
How bitter that I became a heavenly maiden, in a world where there is no one to come seeking me along the paths of the clouds.
Commentary
Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1101

Headnote: "When I was a Gosechi dancer and had thought I might perhaps be kept on at court, but it did not happen."
The poet says how bitter it is that she became a heavenly maiden in a world where no one comes seeking her along the paths of the clouds. Likening the Gosechi dancer to a celestial maiden, she voices her disappointment at not being kept on at court as she had hoped.
According to the headnote, she served as a Gosechi dancer and had thought she might be kept on at court, but it did not happen. Where the monk Henjō's poem in the Kokinshu, "Amatsukaze kumo no kayoiji fukitoji yo otome no sugata shibashi todomemu," wished to keep the dancers from leaving, this one laments that there is no one to keep her.
The poet was a daughter of Fujiwara no Shigekane, and little more is known of her life.

The first line, "Kuyashiku zo," means "how bitter," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "keru" in the third line.
The second line, "amatsu otome to," means "a heavenly maiden," likening the Gosechi dancer to a celestial being, with "tsu" an old particle meaning "no."
The third line, "narinikeru," means "I have become," closing the "zo" of the first line. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "kumoji tazunuru," means "who seeks the paths of the clouds," one who would come to find and keep the heavenly maiden.
The last line, "hito mo naki yo ni," means "in a world without anyone," showing her grief at not being kept on.
Author
Daughter of Fujiwara no Shigekane
Source
Gosen Wakashu
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