思ひかね妹がり行けば冬の夜の
川風寒み千鳥鳴くなり
川風寒み千鳥鳴くなり
- Roma-ji
-
Omoikane imogari yukeba fuyu no yo no kawakaze samumi chidori naku nari
- English Translation
-
Unable to bear
my longing, I go to her;
on this winter night
the river wind blows so cold
the plovers are crying out.
- Meaning
- Unable to bear my longing, I set out for my beloved's house; on this winter night the wind off the river is so cold that the plovers are crying.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 224
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Unable to bear his longing, the poet sets out by night for his beloved's house, and the plovers cry in the cold wind off the river on this winter night. The ache of love is overlaid with the chill of the winter night scene, and the plovers' cries echo the poet's own loneliness. The poem is famed for fusing the heart of love with a winter landscape.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "omoikane," means "unable to hold back my longing."
Second line, "imogari yukeba," means "when I go to my beloved," with "imo" an affectionate term a man uses for a lover or wife and "gari" meaning "to the place of."
Third line, "fuyu no yo no," means "of the winter night," modifying the river wind in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "kawakaze samumi," means "the river wind being cold," a construction adding "mi" to an adjective stem to express cause or reason.
Final line, "chidori naku nari," means "the plovers seem to be crying," with "nari" an auxiliary of inference from sound. 238 in this book likewise ends with "chidori naku nari."
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ashi no ha ni kakurete sumishi tsu no kuni no koya mo arawa ni fuyu wa kinikeri
- Next Poem
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Hinemosu ni miredomo akanu momijiba wa ika naru yama no arashi naru ran