ひとり行くことこそ憂けれふるさとの
奈良の慣らひて見し人もなみ
奈良の慣らひて見し人もなみ
- Roma-ji
-
Hitori yuku koto koso ukere furusato no Nara no naraite mishi hito mo nami
- English Translation
-
Going there alone
is what grieves me so, for in
my old home of Nara
the one I grew used to seeing
is no longer there
- Meaning
- How bitter it is to go alone—for in my old home of Nara, the one I was used to seeing is there no more.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1403
Headnote: "After her mother, who lived in Yamato, had died, on going to that province."
Ise says it is bitter to go alone, for in her old home of Nara the one she was used to seeing is gone. After the death of her mother in Yamato, setting out for that land, she grieves at a journey without the mother she always looked forward to seeing.
According to the headnote, it was composed when she went to Yamato after her mother, who lived there, had died.
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, "Hitori yuku," means "going alone."
The second line, "koto koso ukere," means "is so bitter," with "koso" closed by the realis "ukere." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "furusato no," means "of my old home," the old capital of Nara.
The fourth line, "Nara no naraite," means "used to in Nara," repeating the sound of "Nara" in "narai."
The last line, "mishi hito mo nami," means "since the one I saw is gone," with "mi" giving the cause; it refers to her late mother.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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