深くしも頼まざらなむ君ゆゑに
雪踏み分けて夜な夜なぞ行く
雪踏み分けて夜な夜なぞ行く
- Roma-ji
-
Fukaku shimo tanomazaranamu kimi yue ni yuki fumiwakete yonayona zo yuku
- English Translation
-
Do not count on me,
I pray, with so deep a trust —
and yet for your sake
through the snow I tread my way,
night after night, to come to you
- Meaning
- Please don't rely on me too deeply — and yet, for your sake, night after night I make my way through the snow to you.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 318
Telling the beloved not to rely on him too deeply, the poet in fact makes his way through the snow to her every night. In the gap between guarded words and the act of walking snowy roads, there shows a man's heart masking itself out of shyness.
The first line, "fukaku shimo," uses the emphatic "shimo": so deeply.
The second line, "tanomazaranamu," combines the negative "zu" and the wish particle "namu" addressed to another: please do not rely on me, with a break after the second line.
The third line, "kimi yue ni" (for your sake), gives the reason.
The fourth line, "yuki fumiwakete," refers to treading a path through the snow.
The final line, "yonayona zo yuku," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive "yuku," declaring firmly that he goes every night.
- Author
- Sone no Yoshitada
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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