ほどもなく消えぬる雪はかひもなし
身をつみてこそあはれと思はめ
身をつみてこそあはれと思はめ
- Roma-ji
-
Hodo mo naku kienuru yuki wa kai mo nashi mi o tsumite koso aware to omowame
- English Translation
-
Snow that melts away
so soon is worth nothing;
only when it piles,
when I pinch myself and feel,
will I think of you with pity.
- Meaning
- Snow that melts away so soon is of no use; only if it piles up, only if I pinch myself and feel the pain, will I come to feel pity for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 654
Headnote: "Reply"
The poem retorts that snow that melts so soon is of no use, and that only when feeling piles up like snow, only when she pinches herself and knows the pain, will she come to feel pity. The headnote shows it is the reply to the preceding poem, 653. Taking up "kietsutsu" of that poem with "hodo mo naku kienuru," and pivoting "tsumi" on snow "piling up" and "pinching" oneself, it answers that a feeling that melts away so easily will not move her heart.
The author, Nakatsukasa, was the daughter of Prince Atsuyoshi, a son of Emperor Uda, and the poet Ise. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "hodo mo naku," means "so soon."
Second line, "kienuru yuki wa," means "snow that melts away," taking up the fourth line of the preceding poem, 653, "shita ni kietsutsu."
Third line, "kai mo nashi," means "is of no use," and the poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "mi o tsumite koso," is a pivot word: "tsumi" means snow "piling up" and "pinching" oneself. The binding particle "koso" is resolved by "me" in the final line.
Final line, "aware to omowame," means "I would feel pity," with "me" the perfective form of the conjectural "mu." It takes up the first line of the preceding poem, "aware to mo."
- Author
- Nakatsukasa
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Aware to mo omowaji mono o shirayuki no shita ni kietsutsu nao mo furu kana
- Next Poem
-
Yoso nagara aiminu hodo ni koishinaba nani ni kaetaru inochi to ka iwamu