貫きとめぬ髪の筋もてあやしくも
経にける年の数を知るかな
経にける年の数を知るかな
- Roma-ji
-
Nukitomenu kami no suji mote ayashiku mo henikeru toshi no kazu o shiru kana
- English Translation
-
Strands of hair that bind
no string of beads, yet by them,
strangely enough,
the number of the years gone by
is there for all to know
- Meaning
- By strands of hair that hold no beads strung upon them, strangely enough, one comes to know the number of the years gone by.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1209
Headnote: "On seeing a woman whose hair had turned white."
The poet says that, strangely, by strands of hair that bind no beads one can know the number of years gone by. Likening white hair to the string of a rosary on which one counts, she reads in each whitened strand the years that have piled up.
According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing a woman whose hair had turned white.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Governor of Ise, and served Fujiwara no Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda. She received the emperor's favor and later bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, she is represented in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu by "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo."
The first line, "Nukitomenu," means "that string no beads," calling to mind the cord that threads a rosary.
The second line, "kami no suji mote," means "by strands of hair," with "suji" associated with the cord. Poems 1219 and 1240 of this book likewise read the passing years in the change of black hair.
The third line, "ayashiku mo," means "strangely enough."
The fourth line, "henikeru toshi no," means "of the years gone by."
The last line, "kazu o shiru kana," means "one knows the number," with "kazu" an associated word with beads and "kana" exclamatory.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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