Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 82
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
despite my suffering
I somehow manage
to cling to life
but it are my tears
that can't bear the pain
omoi wabi
satemo inochi wa
aru mono o
uki ni taenu wa
namida nari keri
思ひわび
さても命は
あるものを
憂きに堪へぬは
なみだなりけり
Doin 道因 (1090-1179)
A love poem bemoaning a lover's cruelty. As there is no head note, we do not know whether it was written for an actual person, or simply composed on a set topic, for a poetry contest - but the latter is probable, as this is a rather rhetorical construction.
Notes
- omoiwabi: suffering from (unfulfilled) love
- satemo: "sore demo yahari," "despite" (refers to "omoiwabi")
- uki: anguish, pain
The Poet
Doin's given name was Fujiwara no Atsuyori. He was a son of Kiyotaka. He served as Lieutenant of the Stables of the Left and entered religion in 1172. From around 1160 on, he was a participant in the major poetic events of his day and was a member of a group of poets who gathered about Shun'e (poem 85). Forty-one of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Senzaishu on.
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each, by Peter MacMIllan (Penguin Classics); Traditional Japanese Poetry, An Anthology, by Steven D. Carter (Stanford University Press, 1991); Hyakunin Isshu by Inoue Muneo, etc. (Shinchosha, 1990); Genshoku Hyakunin Isshu by Suzuki Hideo, etc. (Buneido, 1997); Chishiki Zero kara no Hyakunin Isshu, by Ariyoshi Tamotsu (Gentosha); Hyakunin Isshu Kaibo Zukan, by Tani Tomoko (X-Knowledge); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); Hyakunin Isshu, Ocho waka kara chusei waka e by Inoue Muneo (Chikuma Shoin, 2004); Basho's Haiku (2 vols) by Toshiharu Oseko (Maruzen, 1990); The Ise Stories by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010); Kokin Wakashu, The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985); Kokinshu, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius (University of Tokyo Press, 1984); Kokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1994); Shinkokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1995); Taketori Monogatari-Ise Monogatari-Yamato Monogatari-Heichu Monogatari (Shogakkan, 1994).
Photo: Wikipedia
Hyakunin Isshu Index