忍べどもこの別れ路を思ふには
から紅の涙こそ降れ
から紅の涙こそ降れ
- Roma-ji
-
Shinobedomo kono wakareji o omou ni wa karakurenai no namida koso fure
- English Translation
-
Though I bear it all,
when I think upon this road
of parting from you,
my tears of Cathay crimson
fall down like the rain
- Meaning
- Try as I may to endure it, when I think of this road of parting, tears of deep Chinese crimson come raining down.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Parting Poems 491
Headnote: "Composed when the Monk Jōjin went to China"
Composed when the poet's son, the Tendai monk Jōjin, crossed to China. Jōjin went to Song China in 1072 and died there. Though China was then ruled by the Song, the headnote follows custom in calling it "going to Tang." However much I endure, when I think of this road of parting, tears of deep crimson rain down, she says. It is a poem of piercing grief, an aged mother lamenting a parting from her son, who crosses the sea to far-off China, perhaps never to be seen again.
The author, "Mother of the Monk Jōjin," was the mother of the Tendai monk Jōjin; her name has not come down to us. She is known for her personal collection, the Jōjin Ajari no Haha Shū, which records her grief at her son's departure for China.
First line, "shinobedomo": "shinobu" is to endure, and "domo" is concessive, "though I bear it."
Second line, "kono wakareji o": "wakareji" is the road of parting, here the way across the sea to China.
Third line, "omou ni wa": "when I think of it."
Fourth line, "karakurenai no": a deep, vivid crimson, with "kara" also meaning China, where her son is going. Crimson tears are tears of blood shed at the height of grief.
Fifth line, "namida koso fure": the emphatic "koso" closes with the perfective "fure," heightening the violence of her grief, tears falling like rain.
- Author
- Mother of the Monk Jōjin
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Wakarete mo onaji miyako ni arishikaba ito kono tabi no kokochi ya wa seshi
- Next Poem
-
Kokoro o mo kimi o mo yado ni todomeokite namida to tomo ni izuru tabi kana