惜しめどもかひもなぎさに春暮れて
浪とともにぞたちわかれぬる
浪とともにぞたちわかれぬる
- Roma-ji
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Oshimedomo kai mo nagisa ni haru kurete nami to tomo ni zo tachiwakarenuru
- English Translation
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Though I grieve, it's vain
as shells upon the shore,
the spring grows dark,
and together with the waves
we rise and part our ways
- Meaning
- However much I grieve, it is to no avail; on the shore the spring grows dark, and along with the rising waves, I have parted from it.
- Commentary
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Book Two Spring Poems II 133
Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'The End of the Third Month on a Sea Journey'"
Composed on the topic "The End of the Third Month on a Sea Journey." However much the poet grieves, it is in vain; spring has grown dark upon the shore, and together with the waves that rise and recede he has parted from it. Layering seaside associations and pivot words, "kai" for both worth and shell, "nagi" for lacking and "nagisa" for shore, and "tachi" for waves rising and for parting, it depicts the end of spring met on a sea voyage.
The author, "Former Archbishop Kakuchū," is Kakuchū, son of Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi, who became a Tendai monk and rose to Tendai Abbot and Archbishop.
First line, "oshimedomo": "domo" is concessive: "though I grieve."
Second line, "kai mo nagisa ni": "kai" is a pivot word for "worth" and "shell," and "nagisa" for "lacking" and "shore," so "to no avail" is overlaid with a shore strewn with shells.
Third line, "haru kurete": "spring grows dark," overlaying the dusk of the month's last day with the end of spring.
Fourth line, "nami to tomo ni zo": the emphatic "zo" links with "nuru" in the last line. "Waves" is an associated word with "shells" and "shore."
Fifth line, "tachiwakarenuru": "tachi" is a pivot word for waves "rising" and for "parting." "Nuru" is the attributive of the perfective "nu," closing with "zo." Where 130 parted from spring on a journey overland, this poem parts from it on a journey by sea.
- Author
- Kakuchū
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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