Omoiki ya imikoshi hito no tsute ni shite nareshi miuchi ni kikan mono to wa

思ひきや忌みこし人のつてにして
馴れし御内に聞かんものとは

Roma-ji: Omoiki ya imikoshi hito no tsute ni shite nareshi miuchi ni kikan mono to wa
English Translation: Did I ever think
that through one we once avoided,
by his word alone,
I would come to hear of
the palace I knew so well?
Meaning: Did I ever imagine that I would hear of the palace I knew so well through the word of a monk, one we once had to shun?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1225

Headnote: "Reply"
This is the Lady Senji's reply to Saigyō's poem. Did I ever think, she says, that I would hear news of the palace I knew so well from a monk, one we once had to avoid?
Answering Saigyō's "forbidden figure" with "one we avoided," she sings of the irony and sorrow of learning of her old home's decline from a monk who could not approach it in the Priestess's day.

First line, “omoiki ya”: ya is rhetorical, "did I ever think?" No; the poem breaks after the first line.
Second line, “imikoshi hito no”: of the one we shunned at the Priestess's palace, answering "the forbidden figure."
Third line, “tsute ni shite”: through his word.
Fourth line, “nareshi miuchi ni”: about the palace I knew so well; the text has miuchi ni while the reading line has miuchi o, and the text is followed here.
Fifth line, “kikan mono to wa”: that I would hear of it, the inversion giving the content of "did I ever think."
Author: Senji no Tsubone
Source: Sankashu
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