世の人のまだ知らぬ間の薄氷
見わかぬほどに消えねとぞ思ふ
見わかぬほどに消えねとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Yo no hito no mada shiranu ma no usugōri miwakanu hodo ni kie ne to zo omou
- English Translation
-
Like the thin layer of ice
that people of the world
have not yet come to know,
before anyone can tell it,
may it melt away, I pray
- Meaning
- Like thin ice that the world has not yet noticed, I wish it would melt away before anyone can make it out.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 319
Likening something not yet known to the world to thin ice, the poet wishes it would vanish before anyone could make it out. Seemingly speaking of a secret love, the poem shows a heart wary of others' eyes, wishing to erase the traces of a fragile affair before rumor arises.
The first line, "yo no hito no" (the people of the world), names society at large.
The second line, "mada shiranu ma no," uses the attributive negative: while they do not yet know.
The third line, "usugōri" (thin ice), likens it to a fragile matter unknown to others.
The fourth line, "miwakanu hodo ni," means before it can be made out.
The final line, "kie ne to zo omou," uses "ne," the imperative of the perfective "nu" — melt away — and closes in a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive "omou."
- Author
- Akazome Emon
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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