風をいたみ岩打つ波のおのれのみ
くだけてものを思ふころかな
くだけてものを思ふころかな
- Roma-ji
-
Kaze o itami iwa utsu nami no onore nomi kudakete mono o omou koro kana
- English Translation
-
So fierce is the wind
that the waves dash on the rocks,
and only themselves
break apart — so I alone
am shattered, lost in longing
- Meaning
- So fierce is the wind that the waves dashing on the rocks break apart alone; just so, I alone am shattered with longing in these days.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Love Poems I 211
Headnote: "Composed when presenting a hundred-poem sequence to Reizei-in while he was still Crown Prince"
The poet likens himself, heart breaking with love for one who will not respond, to waves that shatter themselves against an unmoving rock. The vivid contrast of rock and wave powerfully conveys the pain of unrequited love.
According to the headnote, the poem belongs to a hundred-poem sequence presented to Emperor Reizei while he was Crown Prince, and this Shigeyuki sequence is considered one of the earliest surviving hundred-poem sequences. It was included as poem 48 of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu and chosen by Fujiwara no Teika for both Teika Hachidaisho and Hachidaishu Shuitsu.
The first line, "kaze o itami," combines "o" with the stem of "itashi" (fierce) and "mi" to mean "because the wind is fierce." The first two lines form a preface leading to "onore nomi kudakete."
The second line, "iwa utsu nami no" (waves striking the rocks), casts the unmoving rock as the beloved's heart and the wave as the poet. The next poem, 212, also likens love to a natural scene, entering deep into the mountains, continuing the run of metaphors from nature.
The third line, "onore nomi" (only themselves), uses "nomi" to say that the other is unmoved while only the speaker suffers.
The fourth line, "kudakete mono o," overlays the breaking of waves on a heart torn and troubled by longing.
The final line, "omou koro kana," ends with the exclamatory "kana." Poem 230 of this book closes with the same line, "omou koro kana," and likewise turns from a scene of nature used as a preface to the feelings of love.
- Author
- Minamoto no Shigeyuki
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Wabitsutsu mo onaji miyako wa nagusameki tabine zo koi no kagiri narikeru
- Next Poem
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Waga koi wa Yoshino no yama no oku nare ya omoiiredomo au hito mo nashi