思ひかね眺めしかども鳥辺山
果ては煙も見えずなりにき
果ては煙も見えずなりにき
- Roma-ji
-
Omoikane nagameshikadomo Toribeyama hate wa keburi mo miezu nariniki
- English Translation
-
Unable to bear it,
I kept on gazing, and yet
over Toribe Hill
even the last thin smoke at length
faded out beyond my sight
- Meaning
- Unable to bear my grief, I kept gazing toward Toribe Hill, but at last even the smoke could no longer be seen.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 395
Unable to bear the grief of losing someone, the poet kept gazing at Toribe Hill, the place of funerals, until at last even the smoke of the cremation could no longer be seen. As the smoke, the last trace, also vanishes, the poem conveys the loneliness of the dead slipping away entirely.
It begins with the same "omoikane" as poem 381 of this book; there the poet gazed at white clouds in the sky where the beloved was, while here he gazes at the smoke over Toribe Hill.
The first line, "omoikane," means unable to bear one's feelings.
The second line, "nagameshikadomo," combines the perfective of the past "ki" and the concessive "domo": though I gazed.
The third line, "Toribeyama," names the funeral ground in the eastern hills of the capital.
The fourth line, "hate wa keburi mo," uses "mo": at last even the smoke.
The final line, "miezu nariniki," combines the perfective "nu" and past "ki": it could no longer be seen.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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