道知らぬものならなくにあしひきの
山ふみ迷ふ人もありけり
山ふみ迷ふ人もありけり
- Roma-ji
-
Michi shiranu mono nara naku ni ashihiki no yama fumimayou hito mo arikeri
- English Translation
-
Not that the way
is a thing you do not know,
and yet, I see,
in the foot-weary mountains
some lose their tread, their letters
- Meaning
- It is not as though you do not know the way, and yet there are those who lose their footing on the mountain paths—and lose their letters too.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1205
Headnote: "When a letter Lord Atsutada sent somewhere else was mistakenly brought to Taifu's room, she sent him this."
The poet says that, though one knows the way, there are those who lose their footing in the mountains. Joining "fumi," letter, and "fumi," treading, she likens Atsutada's misdelivered letter to someone lost on a mountain path, lightly teasing him.
According to the headnote, a letter Atsutada had sent elsewhere was brought by mistake to Taifu's room, so she sent him this poem. The next poem is Atsutada's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, Taifu, was a lady-in-waiting poet of the Gosenshu era and is said to have been a daughter of Minamoto no Tasuku.
The first line, "Michi shiranu," means "not knowing the way."
The second line, "mono nara naku ni," means "it is not that, and yet," with "naku ni" concessive.
The third line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word for "mountain." The next poem answers with the same pillow word in its third line.
The fourth line, "yama fumimayou," is a pivot word: "fumi" is both treading and a letter, so it means both losing one's way on a mountain path and a letter going astray. It is taken up by "fumimayou beki" in the last line of the next poem.
The last line, "hito mo arikeri," means "there are such people, I see," with "keri" for realization.
- Author
- Taifu
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kanashiki mo uki mo shirinishi hitotsu na o tare o waku to ka omoisutsubeki
- Next Poem
-
Shirakashi no yuki mo kienishi ashihiki no yamaji o tare ka fumimayou beki