かくばかり色に出でじと忍べども
見ゆらむものを堪へぬけしきは
見ゆらむものを堪へぬけしきは
- Roma-ji
-
Kaku bakari iro ni ideji to shinobedomo miyuramu mono o taenu keshiki wa
- English Translation
-
Though I strive so hard
to hide it, never letting
its color come to show,
surely they can see it all,
this look I cannot bear
- Meaning
- However hard I try to endure in secret, never letting my love show its color, surely they can see it anyway: this look of one who can no longer bear it.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 683
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Though I endure so, resolved not to let it show, he says, surely they see it, this look of one who cannot bear it. However hard he tries to hide his love, the signs he cannot conceal must already be visible to others, and he worries over the precariousness of a hidden love.
The author, "the monk Kenchi," was a monk of the late Heian period. Little is known of his life.
Its second line, "iro ni ideji," is the same as the fourth line of 646 of this book and shares its wording with "iro ni wa ideji" in the fourth line of 664. Like "taenu omoi" in 649, it also sings of what one "cannot bear."
First line, "kaku bakari": "so very much."
Second line, "iro ni ideji to": "ji" is the negative volitional, "resolved not to let it show." It is the same as the fourth line of 646.
Third line, "shinobedomo": "domo" is adversative, "though I endure in secret."
Fourth line, "miyuramu mono o": "ramu" is the present conjectural, and "mono o" an adversative sigh, "surely it can be seen." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the last line.
Fifth line, "taenu keshiki wa": "keshiki" means look or manner, "this look of one who cannot bear it." It shares its wording with "taenu omoi ni" in the second line of 649.
- Author
- Kenchi
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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Tanome to ya ina to ya ika ni inafune no shibashi to machishi hodo mo henikeri
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Hito shirezu omou kokoro wa fukamigusa hana sakite koso iro ni idekere