思ふこと忍ぶにいとど添ふものは
数ならぬ身の嘆きなりけり
数ならぬ身の嘆きなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Omou koto shinobu ni itodo sou mono wa kazu naranu mi no nageki narikeri
- English Translation
-
To hiding my love,
what comes adding all the more
weight upon my heart
is the sorrow I must feel
that I am of no account
- Meaning
- What weighs on me all the more, as I keep my love hidden, is the grief of knowing that I am of no account at all.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems II 741
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the heart of hidden love"
Like the preceding poem, it is composed on the heart of "hidden love." What adds all the more to the hiding of my love, she says, is the grief of being of no account. On top of the pain of concealing her love comes the lament that one of her low standing is no match for the beloved, so that her love grows still more painful.
The author, "Inpumon'in no Taifu," was the daughter of Fujiwara no Nobunari. A lady-in-waiting poet who served Princess Ryōshi, the Inpumon'in, daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa, she was known as a prolific poet and has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Poem 773 of this book also says "mi wa kazu narazu," sharing the lament of being of no account.
First line, "omou koto": "what I love," "my longing."
Second line, "shinobu ni itodo": "shinobu" is to hide one's feelings from others, and "itodo" means "all the more."
Third line, "sou mono wa": "what comes to be added."
Fourth line, "kazu naranu mi no": "kazu naranu" means "of no account," speaking of herself as one of low standing. It shares the lament of "mi wa kazu narazu" in the fourth line of 773 of this book.
Fifth line, "nageki narikeri": "keri" expresses the exclamation of realization, "it was this grief."
- Author
- Inpumon-in no Taifu
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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Koromode ni otsuru namida no iro naku wa tsuyu tomo hito ni iwamashi mono o
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