さのみやは我が身の憂きになし果てて
人のつらさを恨みざるべき
人のつらさを恨みざるべき
- Roma-ji
-
Sa nomi ya wa waga mi no uki ni nashihatete hito no tsurasa o uramizarubeki
- English Translation
-
Should I always
lay it all upon the sorrow
of my own sad lot
and never once resent
the coldness of your heart
- Meaning
- Must I lay everything on my own unhappy lot and never once resent the coldness of your heart?
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Love Poems II 455
Must the poet lay everything on her own misfortune and never resent the other's coldness? No, she cannot help resenting it. Through a rhetorical question, the poem conveys the conflict of one who tries to blame herself and give up, yet cannot hold back resentment toward the other.
Poem 438 in this book reflects on having thought the beloved cruel without knowing the karma of a former life, while this poem, in the opposite direction, says one cannot always lay the blame on oneself. Poem 488 in this book also sings of resenting oneself.
First line, 'sa nomi ya wa', means only in that way, the particle ya wa expressing a rhetorical question, answered by beki in the final line.
Second line, 'waga mi no uki ni', means upon the sorrow of my own lot.
Third line, 'nashihatete', means making it wholly the cause.
Fourth line, 'hito no tsurasa o', means your coldness.
Final line, 'uramizarubeki', means should I not resent, with zaru, the attributive of the negative zu, followed by beki, the attributive of beshi, closing in answer to ya wa in the first line as a rhetorical question.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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