思ふ人ある方へ行く別れ路を
惜しむ心ぞかつはわりなき
惜しむ心ぞかつはわりなき
- Roma-ji
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Omou hito aru kata e yuku wakareji o oshimu kokoro zo katsu wa warinaki
- English Translation
-
On the road of parting
toward the place where waits
the one dear to you,
my heart that grieves to see you go
is, I know, against all reason.
- Meaning
- Since you are going toward the one you love, my heart that grieves at this parting is, on the other hand, quite unreasonable.
- Commentary
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Book Six Parting Poems 332
Headnote: "When Fujiwara no Masatada was Governor of Buzen and Tamenori went down because he was anxious about him, on holding a farewell party"
The poet says that since the traveler is going to where a beloved person is, he knows that grieving at the parting is unreasonable, yet he cannot help grieving. Considering the traveler's joy, he expresses a loneliness he cannot suppress as the one left behind. According to the headnote, when Fujiwara no Masatada was Governor of Buzen, his son Tamenori was going down because he was anxious about his father, and the poet composed this at a farewell party.
Fujiwara no Kiyotada was a son of Fujiwara no Kanesuke and a poet of the mid-Heian period. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "omou hito," means "the one dear to you," referring to Masatada, father of the departing Tamenori.
Second line, "aru kata e yuku," means "going toward where he is."
Third line, "wakareji o," means "the road of parting."
Fourth line, "oshimu kokoro zo," means "the heart that grieves," emphasized by the particle "zo."
Final line, "katsu wa warinaki," means "is, on the other hand, unreasonable," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "warinaki." "Katsu wa" expresses the two sides of a heart that grieves and yet, at the same time, knows better.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kiyotada
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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