Mi ni tsukite moyuru omoi no kiemashi ya suzushiki kaze no aogazariseba

身につきて燃ゆるおもひの消えましや
涼しき風のあふがざりせば

Roma-ji: Mi ni tsukite moyuru omoi no kiemashi ya suzushiki kaze no aogazariseba
English Translation: Clinging to the self,
the burning fires of longing—
would they have gone out,
had the cool and gentle wind
never come to fan them so?
Meaning: Would the burning fire of longing that clings to me have ever gone out, had the cool wind not come to fan it?
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1538

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Buddhist Poems: Three on the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings"
The third of the three poems on the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings. The fire of passions that clings and burns would never have gone out, had the cool wind not fanned it.
It seems to liken the passions that sear the self to fire and the Buddha's teaching that quiets them to a cool wind. Against the gentle scene of spring held in buds in the preceding poem, this one depicts the power of the teaching through the contrast of burning fire and cool wind.

First line, “mi ni tsukite”: clinging to the self; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “moyuru omoi no”: omoi is a pivot word joining longing and fire, "the burning fire of longing."
Third line, “kiemashi ya”: mashi is counterfactual and ya rhetorical, "would it have gone out?—no"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “suzushiki kaze no”: the cool wind, seen as a figure for the Buddha's teaching.
Fifth line, “aogazariseba”: seba is a counterfactual condition, "had it not fanned," in inversion.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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