物思へどもかからぬ人もあるものを
あはれなりける身の契りかな
あはれなりける身の契りかな
- Roma-ji
-
Mono omoedomo kakaranu hito mo aru mono o aware narikeru mi no chigiri kana
- English Translation
-
Though others too may
brood in love, some never come
to such a pass as this;
how pitiful it is, the
karmic bond my life was given
- Meaning
- There are those who brood over love yet never come to such a state as mine; how pitiful is the bond of destiny that shapes my life.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 928
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
There are those who brood in love yet never come to this, he says; how pitiful is the bond of my destiny. Many people suffer in love, but not all suffer as he does, and he laments that his sinking so deep into brooding must be a bond fixed in a former life. It is an introspective poem that accepts the pain of love as destiny.
The author, "En'i Hōshi," was Saigyō. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; he served as a warrior of the north guard of Retired Emperor Toba but took the tonsure young and composed many poems as he traveled the provinces. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Like "yoyo no chigiri" in 919 of this book, it takes the pain of love as a "chigiri," a karmic bond. This poem and the next, 929, are two poems in a row by En'i Hōshi.
First line, "mono omoedomo": a line with an extra syllable. "Mono omou" means to brood in love, and "domo" is an adversative particle, "though they brood."
Second line, "kakaranu hito mo": "kakara" is the irrealis of "kakari," "to be thus," and "nu" the attributive of the negative "zu," "people who do not come to this."
Third line, "aru mono o": "mono o" is an adversative conjunctive particle, "though there are." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "aware narikeru": "aware" means deeply pitiful, and "keru" is the attributive of "keri," expressing realization.
Fifth line, "mi no chigiri kana": "chigiri" is the bond of a former life, and "kana" exclamatory. Like "yoyo no chigiri o" in the second line of 919 of this book, it speaks of a "chigiri" of destiny.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kimi ya aranu waga mi ya aranu obotsukana tanomeshi koto no mina kawarinuru
- Next Poem
-
Nageke tote tsuki ya wa mono o omowasuru kakochigao naru waga namida kana