さびしさに家出しぬべき山里を
今宵の月に思ひとまりぬ
今宵の月に思ひとまりぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Sabishisa ni iede shinu beki yamazato o koyoi no tsuki ni omoitomarinu
- English Translation
-
So lonely it was
that I was bound to leave it,
this mountain village,
but thanks to the moon tonight
I have given up the thought
- Meaning
- This mountain village was so lonely I was on the point of leaving it, but tonight's moon has made me change my mind.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 296
The poet had been on the verge of leaving his lonely mountain dwelling, but tonight's beautiful moon persuaded him to stay. Weighing the loneliness of the village against the beauty of the moon, the poem plainly expresses the moon's power to hold the heart back.
A poem by Ryozen in the Goshui Wakashu also begins with "sabishisa ni" and sings of leaving one's dwelling to gaze at an autumn dusk; from the same first line, the two poems trace different movements of the heart.
The first line, "sabishisa ni" (out of loneliness), uses "ni" to give the cause.
The second line, "iede shinu beki," combines the intensive "nu" and attributive conjectural "beki": surely bound to leave.
The third line, "yamazato o," carries a concessive sense with "o": though it was such a mountain village.
The fourth line, "koyoi no tsuki ni," uses "ni" to give the reason: because of tonight's moon.
The final line, "omoitomarinu," ends with the perfective "nu": I have given up the thought.
- Author
- Minamoto no Michinari
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Kuma mo naku Shinoda no mori no shita harete chie no kazu sae miyuru tsukikage
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Yuku hito mo ama no to wataru kokochi shite kumo no namiji ni tsuki o miru kana