皆人の惜しむ日なれど我はただ
遅く暮れゆく嘆きをぞする
遅く暮れゆく嘆きをぞする
- Roma-ji
-
Minahito no oshimu hi naredo ware wa tada osoku kureyuku nageki o zo suru
- English Translation
-
Though this is a day
that everyone is sorry
to see draw to a close,
I alone can only grieve
how slowly it turns to dusk
- Meaning
- Everyone else is sorry to see this day end, but I can only grieve at how slowly it darkens.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Love Poems II 238
Though others regret the passing of the day, the poet, waiting for a night with the beloved, grieves only that it is so slow to end. Contrasting his feelings with those of everyone else, the poem conveys the impatience of waiting for the night of meeting.
Poem 231 of Book Seven likewise sings of impatiently waiting for even a short winter day to end, expressing the same waiting heart.
The first line, "minahito no" (everyone), names the people set against the speaker.
The second line, "oshimu hi naredo," uses the concessive "do": though it is a day all are sorry to see end.
The third line, "ware wa tada" (I alone), singles out the speaker with "wa," contrasting him with "minahito."
The fourth line, "osoku kureyuku" (slow to darken), refers to a day that will not end. Taking up "kure o matsu" (waiting for evening) in 236 of this book, it turns the waiting heart into a lament over the length of the day.
The final line, "nageki o zo suru," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive "suru," declaring firmly that he grieves.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Take no ha ni tama nuku tsuyu ni aranedomo mada yo o komete okinikeru kana
- Next Poem
-
Sumiyoshi no Asazawa ono no wasuremizu taedae narade au yoshi mo gana