思ひには消ゆるものぞと知りながら
今朝しもおきて何に来つらん
今朝しもおきて何に来つらん
- Roma-ji
-
Omoi ni wa kiyuru mono zo to shirinagara kesa shimo okite nani ni kitsuran
- English Translation
-
In the fire of longing
it must melt away, I knew,
and knowing so,
this very frosty morning I rose—
why did I ever come home
- Meaning
- Knowing well that frost melts away in the fire of longing, why did I rise this very morning, as the frost was settling, and come back home?
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1134
Headnote: "After several of us gathered and talked the whole night through, I sent this the next morning."
The poet asks why, knowing that it melts away in the fire of longing, he rose this morning as the frost was settling and came home. Letting "omoi" hold "hi," fire, "shimo" hold frost, and "oki" mean both rising and settling, he says that, as frost vanishes in fire, he who parted from them is ready to faint with lingering longing.
According to the headnote, several people gathered and talked all night, and he sent this the next morning.
The poet, whose name is written partly in kana as "Fujiwara Okikaze," is Fujiwara no Okikaze. A son of Fujiwara no Michinari, he served in provincial posts such as Secretary of Sagami. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, he is represented in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu by "Tare o ka mo shiru hito ni semu takasago no."
The first line, "Omoi ni wa," means "in the fire of longing," with "hi" in "omoi" echoing "hi," fire.
The second line, "kiyuru mono zo to," means "that it melts away," the nature of frost that vanishes in fire.
The third line, "shirinagara," means "knowing that," with "nagara" adversative.
The fourth line, "kesa shimo okite," means "this very morning, rising," with "shimo" joining an emphatic particle and frost, and "oki" joining rising and frost's settling.
The last line, "nani ni kitsuran," means "why have I come," referring to leaving the night's gathering and coming home. "Ran" is conjecture about a cause.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Okikaze
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Izure o ka ame to mo wakamu yamabushi no otsuru namida mo furi ni koso fure
- Next Poem
-
Mezurashi ya mukashi nagara no yama no i wa shizumeru kage zo kuchihatenikeru