ほど経れば人は忘れてやみぬらん
契りしことをなほ頼むかな
契りしことをなほ頼むかな
- Roma-ji
-
Hodo fureba hito wa wasurete yaminuran chigirishi koto o nao tanomu kana
- English Translation
-
As time has passed by,
he has forgotten, surely,
and let it all end;
yet in the vows that we made
I still go on trusting
- Meaning
- Time has passed, and he has surely forgotten and let it all end; and yet I still go on trusting in the promise that we made.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 845
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Since time has passed, she says, he has surely forgotten and let it end, yet I still trust in what we promised. The poem looks at herself, knowing in her mind that he has long forgotten, yet clinging to the vows they exchanged. It vividly expresses the gap between his heart and hers through the contrast of the upper and lower halves.
The author, "Izumi Shikibu," was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune, Governor of Echizen. She became the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, and bore him Koshikibu no Naishi, and later had love affairs with Prince Tametaka and Prince Atsumichi. She served Jōtōmon'in Shōshi and is known for her passionate love poems.
First line, "hodo fureba": "hodo" is time, and "ba" gives a fixed condition, "since time has passed."
Second line, "hito wa wasurete": "hito" is her lover, and "wa" sets him in contrast with herself in the fourth and last lines.
Third line, "yaminuran": "yamu" is to come to an end, "nu" a completive auxiliary, and "ran" an auxiliary of present conjecture, "he has surely let it end by now." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "chigirishi koto o": "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," "what we once promised."
Fifth line, "nao tanomu kana": "nao" means "still, even so," showing a heart that trusts though it knows he has forgotten. "Kana" is exclamatory.
- Author
- Izumi Shikibu
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
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