夕暮れは待たれしものを今はただ
行くらむ方を思ひこそやれ
行くらむ方を思ひこそやれ
- Roma-ji
-
Yūgure wa matareshi mono o ima wa tada yukuramu kata o omoi koso yare
- English Translation
-
Evening was a time
when I could not help but wait,
but now I only
turn my thoughts toward the place
where you must be going now
- Meaning
- Evening was once a time when I could not help waiting for you; now I can only think of the direction in which you must be going.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Love Poems II 270
Once the poet waited for her lover every evening, but now that his heart has drifted, she can only think of the direction in which he must be heading. The poem quietly conveys the loneliness of a love's end, when there is no longer even anyone to wait for.
The first line, "yūgure wa" (evening), singles out with "wa" the hour of waiting for a lover's visit. Poem 249 of this book also sings of the brooding of evening.
The second line, "matareshi mono o," combines the spontaneous "ru," past "ki," and concessive "mono o": though once I could not help but wait.
The third line, "ima wa tada" (now only), sets the present against the past.
The fourth line, "yukuramu kata o," uses the conjectural "ramu" for the direction he must now be heading.
The final line, "omoi koso yare," inserts the particle "koso" into "omoiyaru" and closes with the perfective "yare," a kakari-musubi declaring that she can only send her thoughts there.
- Author
- Sagami
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ikukaeri tsurashi to hito o Mikumano no urameshi nagara koishikaruramu
- Next Poem
-
Wasuraruru hitome bakari o nageki nite koishiki koto no nakaramashikaba