流れゆく水に玉なすうたかたの
あはれあだなるこの世なりけり
あはれあだなるこの世なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Nagareyuku mizu ni tama nasu utakata no aware ada naru kono yo narikeri
- English Translation
-
On the flowing stream,
beads of foam that form and fade,
like those bubbles, ah,
how fleeting and how empty
is this world we live in.
- Meaning
- Like the foam that forms in beads on flowing water, ah, how fleeting is this world of ours.
- Commentary
-
Miscellaneous Poems 817
Headnote: "After the death of the Second Rank Lady of the Retired Emperor, when people composed ten poems"
These were composed when people wrote ten poems after the death of the Second Rank Lady of the Retired Emperor, and the ten continue from here to 826. She is taken to be Fujiwara no Chōshi, the Kii Second Rank Lady, nurse of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa and wife of Fujiwara no Michinori, known as Shinzei. Like foam forming beads on flowing water, this world is fleeting, the poet says, stating at the outset of the ten the impermanence of the world.
First line, “nagareyuku”: flowing on.
Second line, “mizu ni tama nasu”: forming beads on the water.
Third line, “utakata no”: utakata is foam on water, a figure for what is fleeting; no makes the comparison.
Fourth line, “aware ada naru”: aware is an interjection, ah; ada is fleeting.
Fifth line, “kono yo narikeri”: narikeri marks realization; such is this world.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tanomoshiki michi ni wa irite yukishikado waga mi o tsumeba ikaga to zo omou
- Next Poem
-
Kienu meru moto no shizuku o omou ni mo tare ka wa sue no tsuyu no mi naranu