憂きことをしのぶる雨の下にして
我がぬれぎぬは干せど乾かず
我がぬれぎぬは干せど乾かず
- Roma-ji
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Uki koto o shinoburu ame no shita ni shite waga nureginu wa hosedo kawakazu
- English Translation
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Bearing my sorrow
under a rain that falls
hidden and unseen,
this robe of mine wet with false blame,
though I dry it, never dries
- Meaning
- Enduring my sorrow beneath a rain that falls in secret, I hang out my robe wet with false blame, yet however I dry it, it never dries.
- Commentary
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Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems IV 1267
Headnote: "When a rumor of fickleness had arisen and people were making much of it, and a man who had faintly heard of it asked, 'How sad—how are you?'"
The poet says that beneath a rain that falls in secret as she bears her sorrow, her wet robe of false blame never dries. Calling the baseless rumor a "nureginu," a wet robe, she likens herself, unable to clear her name and lost in tears, to a garment that never dries.
According to the headnote, when a rumor of her fickleness had arisen and people were talking of it, a man who had faintly heard asked in sympathy how she was, and she composed this.
The poet is given as "Komachi's grandchild," said to be a granddaughter of Ono no Komachi, but her name is not known.
The first line, "Uki koto o," means "my sorrows."
The second line, "shinoburu ame no," is a pivot word on "shinoburu," both enduring in silence and rain falling softly unseen.
The third line, "shita ni shite," means "being beneath it."
The fourth line, "waga nureginu wa," is a pivot word on "nureginu," both a false charge and a robe wet with rain. Poem 1202 of Book Seventeen uses the same word to lament an undeserved reputation.
The last line, "hosedo kawakazu," means "though I dry it, it does not dry," with "rain," "wet," "hang to dry," and "dry" associated words.
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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