春としもなほ思はれぬ心かな
雨ふる年の心地のみして
雨ふる年の心地のみして
- Roma-ji
-
Haru to shi mo nao omowarenu kokoro kana ame furu toshi no kokochi nomi shite
- English Translation
-
Still I cannot think
that it is spring—such is this
heart of mine within;
only feeling, as rain falls,
that the old year lingers on.
- Meaning
- Somehow my heart still cannot believe that it is spring; as the rain falls, I feel only that the old year is still with me.
- Commentary
-
Miscellaneous Poems 1060
Headnote: "When spring began within the old year and rain was falling"
Spring has begun before the year's end, and rain falls that day. By the calendar it is spring, yet the poet cannot feel it so; with the rain falling, it seems only that the old year still goes on.
Where the preceding poem sang of nature quickly announcing a spring that came within the old year, this poem tells how, on such a day, rain keeps the feeling of spring from arising, the two poems treating the same theme from opposite sides.
First line, “haru to shi mo”: shi and mo add emphasis, "that it is spring."
Second line, “nao omowarenu”: still cannot be thought; re is spontaneous, nu the attributive of the negative.
Third line, “kokoro kana”: kana is exclamatory, and the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “ame furu toshi no”: furu is a pivot word for rain "falling" and a year "grown old."
Fifth line, “kokochi nomi shite”: feeling only that, the inversion giving the reason spring is not felt.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kasumedomo toshi no uchi wa to wakane ma ni haru o tsugu naru yamagawa no mizu
- Next Poem
-
Toshi wa haya tsukinami kakete koenikeri mube tsumi habeshi shiba no wakadachi