あくがるる身のはかなさは百年の
半ば過ぎてぞ思ひ知らるる
半ば過ぎてぞ思ひ知らるる
- Roma-ji
-
Akugaruru mi no hakanasa wa momotose no nakaba sugite zo omoishiraruru
- English Translation
-
The frailty of
this self that drifts and wanders,
only now, it seems,
past the middle of a hundred years,
have I come to know it well
- Meaning
- The frailty of this wandering self — only now, past the midpoint of a hundred years, have I come to know it in my bones.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 411
The frailty of a self that wanders without settling, the poet says, is felt in his bones only after passing the midpoint of a life said to last a hundred years. The poem expresses impermanence, unnoticed in youth, felt keenly at the threshold of old age.
Using the same word as "akugareizuru" in the opening poem, 348, it echoes that poem of a heart about to leave the world. Poem 378 of this book also sings of a life of "a hundred years" as a dream.
The first line, "akugaruru," refers to the heart drifting out of the body, answering "akugareizuru" in the opening poem, 348.
The second line, "mi no hakanasa wa," singles out the frailty of the self with "wa."
The third line, "momotose no," refers to a human life said to last a hundred years. Poem 378 of this book begins with the same word.
The fourth line, "nakaba sugite zo," stresses with "zo": only after passing the midpoint.
The final line, "omoishiraruru," closes "zo" with the attributive spontaneous "raru," a kakari-musubi: I cannot help but know it.
- Author
- Minamoto no Akinaka
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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