忍びつつ思へば苦し住の江の
松の根ながら現れなばや
松の根ながら現れなばや
- Roma-ji
-
Shinobitsutsu omoeba kurushi Suminoe no matsu no ne nagara arawarenaba ya
- English Translation
-
Hiding all the while,
how it pains me so to love!
Like Suminoe's
pines whose roots the waves lay bare,
would that my love were revealed.
- Meaning
- To go on loving in secret is painful; like the roots of the pines of Suminoe laid bare by the waves, I wish my love would simply come to light.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems II 739
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that loving in secret is painful, and wishes that the love would come to light, as the roots of the pines of Suminoe are laid bare by the waves. Unable to bear the pain of hidden love, it expresses a heart driven to think that being known is better than hiding. Where the preceding poem, 738, lamented being known, this one wishes for it, and the two form a contrast.
First line, "shinobitsutsu," means "while hiding my love," with "tsutsu" expressing continuation. It shares secret love with the third line of the preceding poem, 738, "shinoburedo."
Second line, "omoeba kurushi," means "to love so is painful," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "Suminoe no," means "of Suminoe," a poetic place in Settsu famous for its pines. It leads on to "Sumiyoshi no matsu" in the next poems, 740 and 741.
Fourth line, "matsu no ne nagara," means "like the roots of the pines," roots laid bare by the waves. It shares pine roots with the second line of 743 in this book, "matsu no ukine to."
Final line, "arawarenaba ya," means "would that it came to light," with "na" the irrealis form of the perfective "nu" and "ba ya" a final particle of wishing. It answers the final line of 743 in this book, "arawarenikeri."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Mi ni koi no amarinishikaba shinoburedo hito no shiruran koto zo wabishiki
- Next Poem
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Sumiyoshi no matsu naranedomo hisashiku mo kimi to nenu yo no narinikeru kana