あやしきも嬉しかりけりおとしむる
その言の葉にかかると思へば
その言の葉にかかると思へば
- Roma-ji
-
Ayashiki mo ureshikarikeri otoshimuru sono koto no ha ni kakaru to omoeba
- English Translation
-
Even being low
has become a joy to me,
for in the words that
slight me, when I think of it,
it is me on whom they fall
- Meaning
- Even being called lowly has turned into joy, for I think that those very words of scorn are spoken about me.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Variant Poems 701
Even being called lowly has become a joy, the poet says, for even in words of scorn he thinks that he himself is being spoken of. Rejoicing even in disparaging words as a sign that the other's thoughts are turned toward him, the poem may be read as expressing the depth of his feeling.
This poem is found only in a variant manuscript line of the anthology; in the variant order it follows the preceding poem, 700, after 515, the closing poem of Book Eight.
The author, Toshiyori, is Minamoto no Toshiyori, a son of the Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu, who became Head of the Carpentry Office. He was the compiler of this anthology, and his personal collection is the Sanboku Kika Shū. One of his poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
First line, 'ayashiki mo', means even being lowly, even being called of no account.
Second line, 'ureshikarikeri', means has been a joy, closing with the exclamatory keri; the poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, 'otoshimuru', means that scorn me, the attributive modifying koto no ha in the fourth line.
Fourth line, 'sono koto no ha ni', means in those words, with ha, leaf, of koto no ha leading to kakaru in the final line.
Final line, 'kakaru to omoeba', means when I think I am spoken of in them, the realis with ba expressing a reason. It is inverted with the lines before.
- Author
- Minamoto no Toshiyori
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tsurakarishi kokoronarai ni aimite mo nao yume ka to zo utagawarekeru
- Next Poem
-
Ikade ka wa tamoto ni tsuki no yadoramashi hikari machitoru namida narazu wa