隠れ沼の下這ふ葦の水隠りに
我ぞ物思ふ行方知らねば
我ぞ物思ふ行方知らねば
- Roma-ji
-
Kakurenu no shita hau ashi no migomori ni ware zo mono omou yukue shiraneba
- English Translation
-
Like the reeds that creep
under the hidden marsh,
concealed beneath the water,
I brood in secret thought,
for I know not where this goes.
- Meaning
- Like the reeds creeping beneath the waters of a hidden marsh, I brood in secret, for I do not know where this love will lead.
- Commentary
-
Love Poems 496
Headnote: "Hidden love, on a marsh"
Like reeds spreading their roots unseen beneath the water of a hidden marsh, the poet broods in secret, not knowing where his love will lead.
This poem was included in the Shokugosen Wakashū. The Ruijū text titles it "Hidden love, likened to a marsh."
Line 1 means "of the hidden marsh."
Line 2 means "of the reeds creeping beneath."
Line 3 means "hidden in the water," overlaid with concealment from others; the first three lines form a preface.
Line 4: zo binds the attributive omou.
Line 5 means "since I do not know where it goes," the reason placed last by inversion; like "with no settled course" in 431, it expresses love's uncertainty.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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