かはらむと祈る命は惜しからで
さても別れむことぞ悲しき
さても別れむことぞ悲しき
- Roma-ji
-
Kawaramu to inoru inochi wa oshikarade satemo wakaremu koto zo kanashiki
- English Translation
-
The life that I pray
to give in place of yours
I do not hold dear —
yet that we must part like this
is what fills me with such grief
- Meaning
- The life I pray to give in exchange for yours is nothing I hold dear — but that we must part this way is what grieves me.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 362
The poem is said to have been composed when the poet's son, Oe no Takachika, fell gravely ill and she prayed to the god of Sumiyoshi to take her life in place of his. Her life she does not hold dear; only parting from her child grieves her — a mother's urgent love fills the poem.
The story also appears in the Konjaku Monogatari and elsewhere, which tell that the poem moved the god and Takachika recovered. The next poem, 363, also ends with "koto zo kanashiki," so poems of grief at parting are set side by side.
The first line, "kawaramu to," uses the volitional "mu": to take his place.
The second line, "inoru inochi wa," singles out with "wa" the life she prays to give.
The third line, "oshikarade," uses the negative "de": not dear to me.
The fourth line, "satemo wakaremu," means that we shall part in this way.
The final line, "koto zo kanashiki," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive "kanashiki": the parting is what grieves me. The next poem shares this final line.
- Author
- Akazome Emon
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Obotsukana mada minu michi o shide no yama yuki fumiwakete koemu to suramu
- Next Poem
-
Kono yo ni wa mata mo au maji ume no hana chirijiri naramu koto zo kanashiki