武蔵野の堀かねの井もあるものを
うれしく水の近づきにける
うれしく水の近づきにける
- Roma-ji
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Musashino no Horikane no i mo aru mono o ureshiku mizu no chikazukinikeru
- English Translation
-
On Musashi Moor
there is the Horikane well,
dug in vain, and yet
how glad I am that the water
has come so near to me
- Meaning
- Though on Musashi Moor there is the Horikane well, so deep one can scarcely dig to water, how glad I am that the water has drawn near.
- Commentary
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Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1241
Headnote: "Composed on the line of the Teacher of the Law chapter, gradually seeing moist earth and mud, one knows for certain the water is near"
This poem was composed on the line of the Teacher of the Law chapter of the Lotus Sutra, "gradually seeing moist earth and mud, one knows for certain that water is near." The chapter teaches that just as a man digging a well on a high plain knows water is near when dry soil turns to damp mud, so those who hear the Lotus Sutra are drawing near to enlightenment. Though there is the Horikane well on Musashi Moor, how glad I am the water has come near, he says. Calling up a famous well that yields water only with the greatest labor, he sings of the joy of drawing near the water of enlightenment by meeting the Lotus Sutra.
The author, "Shunzei, Master of the Empress Dowager's Household," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. A son of the Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Toshitada, he rose to master of the empress dowager's household and later took the tonsure. He compiled this anthology, the Senzai Wakashū, and was the father of Fujiwara no Teika.
It is the third poem of the series on the chapters of the Lotus Sutra in order.
First line, "Musashino no": the broad moor of Musashi, a poetic place.
Second line, "Horikane no i mo": the Horikane well was said to lie on Musashi Moor, sung of as so deep that water could scarcely be reached.
Third line, "aru mono o": "mono o" is an adversative conjunctive particle, "though there is."
Fourth line, "ureshiku mizu no": the water takes up the sutra's "water is near," standing for enlightenment.
Fifth line, "chikazukinikeru": "ni" is perfective and "keru" the attributive of the exclamatory "keri," "how it has drawn near." Ending on the attributive form, it leaves a lingering overtone.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Shunzei
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Mikusa nomi shigeki nigori to mishikadomo sate mo tsuki sumu e ni koso arikere
- Next Poem
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Tanimizu o musubeba utsuru kage nomi ya chitose o okuru tomo to nariken