Kaze fukeba ada ni yareyuku bashōba no areba to mi o mo tanomu beki ka wa

風吹けばあだに破れゆく芭蕉葉の
あればと身をも頼むべきかは

Roma-ji: Kaze fukeba ada ni yareyuku bashōba no areba to mi o mo tanomu beki ka wa
English Translation: Like the plantain leaf
that so idly tears to shreds
when the winds blow hard,
can I trust this self of mine
just because it's living now?
Meaning: Like the banana leaf that tears so easily when the wind blows, can I rely on this body just because it is alive now?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1028

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Like the banana leaf that tears so easily in the wind, can I rely on this body just because it is alive now? the poet asks. The plantain leaf tears easily and in the sutras is a figure for the frailty of the body. Like 'areba tote tanomarenu kana' in 766, it speaks of how little being alive can be relied on.

First line, “kaze fukeba”: when the wind blows.
Second line, “ada ni yareyuku”: tearing fleetingly.
Third line, “bashōba no”: like the banana leaf, a figure for the body's frailty.
Fourth line, “areba to mi o mo”: this self too, just because it lives.
Fifth line, “tanomu beki ka wa”: ka wa is rhetorical; can I rely on it? No.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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