かけて言へばゆゆしきものを万代と
契りし事やかなはざるべき
契りし事やかなはざるべき
- Roma-ji
-
Kakete ieba yuyushiki mono o yorozuyo to chigirishi koto ya kanawazarubeki
- English Translation
-
Even to speak it
is an omen to be feared—
ten thousand ages
is what we pledged; how could it
fail to come to pass
- Meaning
- Even to say such a thing aloud is ill-omened. Could the vow we made for ten thousand ages fail to come true?
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1146
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that even to speak of it is ill-omened, and asks how their vow for ten thousand ages could fail. Gently scolding the faint words of the preceding poem, she encourages the sick man that the vow will surely be fulfilled.
It is Taifu's reply to Fujiwara no Atsutoshi's poem before it.
The poet, Taifu, was a lady-in-waiting and poet of the time of the Gosenshu, said to be a daughter of Minamoto no Tasuku.
The first line, "Kakete ieba," means "to say it aloud," with an extra syllable.
The second line, "yuyushiki mono o," means "is ill-omened, and yet," with "mono o" an exclamatory adversative. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "yorozuyo to," means "for ten thousand ages," taking up "yorozuyo o" in the first line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "chigirishi koto ya," means "what we pledged," using the same words as the second line of the preceding poem. "Ya" is a rhetorical binding particle closed by the attributive "beki" in the last line.
The last line, "kanawazarubeki," means "could it fail to come true," closing the "ya" of the fourth line and meaning it will surely come true.
- Author
- Taifu
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Yorozuyo o chigirishi koto no itazura ni hitowarae ni mo narinubeki kana
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Chiru to mite sode ni ukuredo tamaranu wa aretaru nami no hana ni zo arikeru