Saturday, 12 June 2010

Hyakunin Isshu #49

Saturday, 12 June 2010 08:35
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
    Like the watchfires lit
by Imperial Palace guards,
    burning through the night,
going out day after day --
so are my longings for you.

—3 June 2010


Original by Onakatomi no Yoshinobu, grandfather of Ise no Tayû (#61). Another one where the "things" (mono) he thinks about obviously mean Her. However, no one's clear just what Yoshinobu is getting at by saying the fires/feelings keep "going out" (kieru in a frequentive conjugation) by day -- feel free to suggest your own interpretation.


mikakimori
eji no taku hi no
yoru wa moe
hiru wa kietsutsu
mono o koso omoe


---L.

About

Warning: contents contain line-breaks.

As language practice, I like to translate poetry. My current project is Chinese, with practice focused on Tang Dynasty poetry. Previously this was classical Japanese, most recently working through the Kokinshu anthology (archived here). Suggestions, corrections, and questions always welcome.

There's also original pomes in the journal archives.

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