さもこそはあひ見むことの難からめ
忘れずとだに言ふ人のなき
忘れずとだに言ふ人のなき
- Roma-ji
-
Sa mo koso wa aimimu koto no katakarame wasurezu to dani iu hito no naki
- English Translation
-
Indeed, it may be
that for us to meet again
is hard to bring about,
yet that none will even say
"I have not forgotten you"!
- Meaning
- It may well be hard for us to meet—but that there should be no one to say even "I have not forgotten you"!
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 951
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says: it is natural enough that meeting should be hard, yet there is no one who will even say they have not forgotten me. While resigning herself to not meeting, she sings of the loneliness and reproach of not receiving even a single word.
The author, "Ise", was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, received the emperor's favor, and bore him a prince. She is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets and is known for the Hyakunin Isshu poem "Naniwagata."
First line, "sa mo koso wa," means "indeed, so it is," with the binding particle "koso" forming a kakari-musubi with the third line.
Second line, "aimimu koto no," means "our meeting," with "aimiru" meaning a man and woman meeting.
Third line, "katakarame," means "must be difficult," concluding with "me," the realis of the conjectural "mu," in answer to "koso" in the first line, and running adversatively into the lower verse.
Fourth line, "wasurezu to dani," means "at least that you have not forgotten," with "dani" expressing a minimal wish.
Final line, "iu hito no naki," means "there is no one who says so," ending on the attributive of the adjective "nashi." It answers the second line of the preceding poem, 950, "iubeki hito wa," in the grief that no one speaks a word for oneself.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Au koto no nageki no moto o tazunureba hitorine yori zo oihajimekeru