思ひかね別れし野辺を来て見れば
浅茅が原に秋風ぞ吹く
浅茅が原に秋風ぞ吹く
- Roma-ji
-
Omoikane wakareshi nobe o kite mireba asaji ga hara ni akikaze zo fuku
- English Translation
-
Unable to bear it,
I came back to see the field
where we said farewell —
over the plain of cogon grass
the autumn wind is blowing
- Meaning
- Unable to bear my longing, I came to the field where we parted, and found only the autumn wind blowing across the plain of cogon grass.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 337
Unable to bear longing, the poet visits the field where they once parted, and finds only the autumn wind blowing over a plain of cogon grass. The field of parting may also be read as the field where the dead were sent off, and the scene of desolate grass and autumn wind carries the loneliness of an irrevocable farewell.
The first line, "omoikane" (unable to bear it), means overwhelmed by feeling.
The second line, "wakareshi nobe o," uses the attributive past "shi" for the field where they once parted.
The third line, "kite mireba," is a conditional of certainty: when I came and looked.
The fourth line, "asaji ga hara ni," refers to a desolate plain of low cogon grass.
The final line, "akikaze zo fuku," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive "fuku," ending with the lonely scene of the autumn wind blowing.
- Author
- Minamoto no Michinari
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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