もろともにおきゐし秋の露ばかり
かからむものと思ひかけきや
かからむものと思ひかけきや
- Roma-ji
-
Morotomo ni okiishi aki no tsuyu bakari kakaramu mono to omoikakeki ya
- English Translation
-
In that autumn when
we stayed up together, as dew
settled—not a drop
of thought did I ever give
that it would come to this
- Meaning
- In that autumn when we stayed up together as the dew settled, did I ever think, even as little as a drop of dew, that it would come to this?
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1408
Headnote: "In the autumn of the same year."
The poet asks whether, in the autumn when they stayed up together, she ever thought even a dewdrop's worth that it would come to this. Remembering an autumn spent with the former Crown Prince, she laments that she never imagined in the least that she would lose him.
According to the headnote, it was composed in the autumn of the same year in which the former Crown Prince died. The former Crown Prince is Prince Yasuakira, Crown Prince to Emperor Daigo, who died young without ever taking the throne.
The poet, "the daughter of Lord Harukami," is a daughter of Fujiwara no Harukami. Little is known of her life.
The first line, "Morotomo ni," means "together."
The second line, "okiishi aki no," is a pivot word on "oki," both dew settling and people staying up: of the autumn when we stayed up together.
The third line, "tsuyu bakari," means "as much as a dewdrop," in the least, overlaid with autumn dew.
The fourth line, "kakaramu mono to," is a pivot word on "kakara," both "thus" and dew clinging: that it would come to this.
The last line, "omoikakeki ya," means "did I ever think," with "ya" rhetorical. "Settle" and "cling" are associated words with "dew."
- Author
- Daughter of Fujiwara no Harukami
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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