朝な朝な鹿のしがらむ萩が枝の
末葉の露のありがたの世や
末葉の露のありがたの世や
- Roma-ji
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Asanaasana shika no shigaramu hagi ga e no sueba no tsuyu no arigata no yo ya
- English Translation
-
Morning after morning
the deer tangle as they pass
the bush clover's boughs —
like the dew on their leaf tips,
how hard to last in this world
- Meaning
- Like the dew on the leaf tips of bush clover that the deer tangle with every morning, how hard it is to go on living in this world!
- Commentary
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Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 353
Every morning the deer tangle with the bush clover as they pass, so the dew on the leaf tips soon falls. The poet overlays the fragility of such dew with a world in which it is hard to go on living. The first four lines together form a metaphor leading to "arigata no yo" in the final line.
Poem 355 of this book also overlays the self with white dew on the tips of pampas grass, continuing poems that take dew on the tips of leaves as a fragile life.
The first line, "asanaasana," means every morning.
The second line, "shika no shigaramu," refers to deer entangling the clover with their bodies, leading to the bush clover of the third line.
The third line, "hagi ga e no," names the boughs of bush clover.
The fourth line, "sueba no tsuyu no," refers to dew on the leaf tips, presented as something that soon falls. Poem 355 of this book likewise sings of "white dew on the tips of the pampas."
The final line, "arigata no yo ya," adds "no" to the stem of "arigatashi" (hard to remain) and ends with the exclamatory "ya": what a world in which it is hard to last.
- Author
- Zōki
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Chiru hana ni mata mo ya awamu obotsukana sono haru made to shiranu mi nareba
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Hanasusuki manekaba koko ni tomarinamu izure no nobe mo tsui no sumika zo