数ならぬ身に置く宵の白玉は
光見えさすものにぞありける
光見えさすものにぞありける
- Roma-ji
-
Kazu naranu mi ni oku yoi no shiratama wa hikari miesasu mono ni zo arikeru
- English Translation
-
On one of no account
these white gems that settle
in the evening—
their light, I find, is something
glimpsed and gone again
- Meaning
- The white gems that settle in the evening on one of no account like me are things whose light is glimpsed only for a moment and then is gone.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1169
Headnote: "When the retired Emperor Yōzei had sometimes summoned me to wait on him at night but had not called me for a long time, I presented this."
The poet says that the white gems settling at evening on one of no account show their light only for a moment and are gone. Likening the emperor's occasional favor to the gleam of dewdrops settling at evening, she laments that, now the light has ceased, only tears settle on her sleeve, having long gone unsummoned.
According to the headnote, the retired Emperor Yōzei had sometimes called her to attend him at night but had not done so for a long time, and she presented this.
The poet, Musashi, seems to have been a lady-in-waiting in Retired Emperor Yōzei's service, but little more is known of her life.
The first line, "Kazu naranu," means "of no account," opening with the same words as the first line of 1167 in this book.
The second line, "mi ni oku yoi no," means "settling on me in the evening," with "oku," to settle, a word related to dew.
The third line, "shiratama wa," means "the white gems," overlaying dewdrops with tears.
The fourth line, "hikari miesasu," means "giving a glimpse of light and stopping," with "sasu" adding the sense of breaking off midway. It refers to the emperor's favor reaching her for a time and then ceasing.
The last line, "mono ni zo arikeru," means "were things, I find," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "keru."
- Author
- Musashi
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Yoshinoyama koen koto koso katakarame koramu nageki no kazu wa shirinan
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Naniwagata migiwa no ashi no oi ga yo ni uramite zo furu hito no kokoro o