三瀬川渡るみさをもなかりけり
何に衣を脱ぎて掛くらん
何に衣を脱ぎて掛くらん
- Roma-ji
-
Mitsusegawa wataru misao mo nakarikeri nani ni koromo o nugite kaku ran
- English Translation
-
At the River of Three Fords
there is not a pole, I find,
by which to cross over;
why then must one shed one's robe
and hang it on the branches?
- Meaning
- At the River of Three Crossings there is no pole to take one across; why, then, must one strip off one's robe and hang it up?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 543
Headnote: "On seeing a painting of hell"
The poet asks why, when there is no pole to cross the River of Three Crossings, one must take off one's robe and hang it up. The headnote shows it was composed on seeing a painting of hell. Taking up the scene in hell paintings in which the dead are stripped of their robes beside the river and the robes hung on a tree, and pivoting on "misao," a punting pole and fidelity, it voices the terror and emptiness of the world after death in the form of a question.
The author, the Daughter of Sugawara no Michimasa, is the daughter of Sugawara no Michimasa. Little is known of her.
First line, "Mitsusegawa," means "the River of Three Crossings," the river the dead are said to cross on their way to the underworld.
Second line, "wataru misao mo," is a pivot word: "misao" means a "punting pole" and "fidelity."
Third line, "nakarikeri," means "there is none, I find," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "nani ni koromo o," means "for what, one's robe," with "nani ni" expressing a question that answers "ran" in the final line.
Final line, "nugite kaku ran," means "does one take it off and hang it," with "ran" an auxiliary conjecturing the cause.
- Author
- Daughter of Sugawara no Michimasa
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Kakushi koso haru no hajime wa ureshikere tsuraki wa aki no owari narikeri