長らへてあるべき身とし思はねば
忘るなとだにえこそ契らね
忘るなとだにえこそ契らね
- Roma-ji
-
Nagaraete aru beki mi to shi omowaneba wasuru na to dani e koso chigirane
- English Translation
-
Since I do not think
that I shall be granted
much longer to live,
I cannot even promise
or ask you, "Do not forget"
- Meaning
- Since I do not expect to live much longer, I cannot even make you promise not to forget me.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Parting Poems 488
Headnote: "Composed when, having gone to Echizen Province as officiant for someone's Buddhist service and being about to return to the capital, the patron of that province grieved at our parting"
Composed when, having gone down to Echizen Province as officiant at someone's Buddhist service, the poet was about to return to the capital, and the patron of the service grieved at the parting. Since I do not think I will live long, I cannot even ask you to promise not to forget me, he says. As a monk aware of the impermanence of his aging body, he can neither promise to meet again nor leave the words "do not forget," and the poem conveys the sorrow of that parting.
The author, "Tendai Abbot Genshin," was a Tendai monk from Mutsu Province. He studied on Mount Hiei and became Tendai Abbot in 1048.
First line, "nagaraete": "living on."
Second line, "aru beki mi to shi": "beki" is the attributive of "beshi" expressing possibility, and "shi" is emphatic, "that I am one who can go on living."
Third line, "omowaneba": "ne" is the perfective of the negative "zu," and with "ba" it gives a reason, "since I do not think so."
Fourth line, "wasuru na to dani": "dani" marks the least, "not even 'do not forget.'" Poems 481 and 496 of this book plead "wasuru na yo," while this poem says even those words cannot be spoken, forming a contrast.
Fifth line, "e koso chigirane": "e" with a negative expresses impossibility, and "koso" closes with "ne," the perfective of the negative "zu," "I cannot promise."
- Author
- Genshin
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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