君が世はつるの郡にあえて来ね
定めなき世の疑ひもなく
定めなき世の疑ひもなく
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ga yo wa Tsuru no kōri ni aete kine sadame naki yo no utagai mo naku
- English Translation
-
May your years be blest
by Tsuru's district, and you
return like the crane,
with no doubt about this world
where nothing is ever sure
- Meaning
- May your life borrow the long years of the crane from the district of Tsuru, and may you come back to us, beyond all doubt in this uncertain world.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1344
Headnote: "Sent to someone going to Kai."
The poet asks that the traveler's life take after the district of Tsuru and return, free of the doubts of an uncertain world. To one going to Kai, she overlays the district name Tsuru with "tsuru," the crane said to live a thousand years, praying that the traveler share its long life and come back safely.
According to the headnote, she sent this to someone going down to Kai.
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, "Kimi ga yo wa," means "your span of years."
The second line, "Tsuru no kōri ni," is a pivot word joining the district of Tsuru in Kai with "tsuru," the crane said to live a thousand years.
The third line, "aete kine," means "take after it and come back," with "ne" a particle of wish. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "sadame naki yo no," means "of this uncertain world."
The last line, "utagai mo naku," means "beyond all doubt," bearing back with the fourth line on the third through inversion.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Me ni mienu kaze ni kokoro o taguetsutsu yaraba kasumi no wakare koso seme
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