打ち捨てて君しいなばの露の身は
消えぬばかりぞありと頼むな
消えぬばかりぞありと頼むな
- Roma-ji
-
Uchisutete kimi shi inaba no tsuyu no mi wa kienu bakari zo ari to tanomu na
- English Translation
-
If you cast me off
and go away to Inaba,
my life, frail as dew,
will be only not yet gone—
do not count on me as living
- Meaning
- If you cast me aside and go off to Inaba, my dewlike life will merely not have vanished yet—do not count on my being alive.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1310
Headnote: "When, for whatever reason, a father left his daughter in the capital, saying she displeased him, and went off to the province of Inaba, the daughter."
The daughter says that if her father abandons her and goes to Inaba, her dewlike life will merely not have vanished, and he must not count on her being alive. Left behind in the capital, she reproaches her father and pours out the helplessness of a life as fragile as dew.
According to the headnote, for some reason a father left his daughter in the capital, saying she displeased him, and went down to the province of Inaba, and the daughter composed this.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known.
The first line, "Uchisutete," means "casting me off."
The second line, "kimi shi inaba no," is a pivot word on "inaba," both "if you go away" and the province of Inaba, his destination. "Shi" is emphatic.
The third line, "tsuyu no mi wa," means "my life, fragile as dew."
The fourth line, "kienu bakari zo," means "will merely not have vanished," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle. "Vanish" is an associated word with "dew."
The last line, "ari to tanomu na," means "do not count on my being alive," with "na" a prohibition. The binding of "zo" in the fourth line is left unresolved as the poem runs on.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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