とどまらむとどまらじとも思ほえず
いづくも終の住処ならねば
いづくも終の住処ならねば
- Roma-ji
-
Todomaramu todomaraji tomo omooezu izuku mo tsui no sumika naraneba
- English Translation
-
Whether I should stay
or whether I should not stay,
I cannot decide,
for nowhere in all the world
is a dwelling for all time.
- Meaning
- I find in myself no wish either to stay or not to stay, for there is no place anywhere that is truly one's final dwelling.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Parting Poems 181
A poem that views the choice between staying and leaving with detachment, from the standpoint of impermanence. Since no place in this world is an eternal dwelling, no attachment arises to staying or to going, and the sorrow of parting is received through a Buddhist sense of transience.
First line, "todomaramu": the volitional "mu" expresses the thought of staying.
Second line, "todomaraji tomo": the negative volitional "ji" pairs with the first line, and repeating the same verb in affirmative and negative shows a wavering heart.
Third line, "omooezu": "omooyu" means to come to mind of itself, and the speaker says neither thought arises. The poem breaks after this line.
Fourth line, "izuku mo tsui no": "izuku" means where, and "tsui no" means final, naming the place where one ends one's life.
Final line, "sumika naraneba," gives the reason in inverted order. Ending as "inochi naraneba" does in the preceding poem, 180, it carries into both poems the awareness that life and dwelling alike are fleeting.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Mata komu to tare ni mo e koso iiokane kokoro ni kanau inochi naraneba
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Futatsu naki kokoro o kimi ni todomeokite ware sae ware ni wakarenuru kana