乳房吸うまだいとけなき緑子の
共に泣きぬる年の暮れかな
共に泣きぬる年の暮れかな
- Roma-ji
-
Chibusa suu mada itokenaki midorigo no tomo ni nakinuru toshi no kure kana
- English Translation
-
Even the infant
still so young it sucks the breast
weeps along with me—
how sad it is, the closing
of the year now passing by!
- Meaning
- Even the little infant, still so young it nurses at the breast, cries along with me—such is the close of the year.
- Commentary
-
Winter Poems 405
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The year's end"
Even a little infant, still so young it nurses at the breast, is crying along with him, the poet sings of the year's end. He extends the grief of seeing the year depart even to the cries of an infant who understands nothing.
The Ruijū text gives line 2 as mada itokeki, and the Ruijū and Teika texts give line 3 as midorigo to. This edition follows the source text.
Line 1 means "nursing at the breast," showing how young the infant of line 3 is.
Line 2 means "still so young."
Line 3 is a newborn infant still at the breast.
Line 4 means "crying together," continuing to line 5 with nuru, the attributive of the perfective nu.
Line 5 is the same as that of 399 to 401, adding kana to a noun to voice a sigh.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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Nubatama no kono yo na ake so shibashiba mo mada furutoshi no uchi zo omowamu
- Next Poem
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Yuku toshi no yukue o toeba yo no naka no hito koso hitotsu moukuberanare