Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Hyakunin Isshu #51

Tuesday, 6 July 2010 07:33
lnhammer: the Chinese character for poetry, red on white background (Default)
    I cannot say it,
so how could you even know?
    -- that my desire
burns into my body like
moxa grass from Ibuki.

—2 July 2010

Original by Fujiwara no Sanekata, great-grandson of Tadahira (#26), and another possible model for Hikaru Genji. I'm at a bit of a loss with this one, there being so much wordplay I'm not really sure I understand what, grammatically, is going on here -- to get something that's even remotely coherent, I had to rearrange the phrases. One pivot: sashimo grass, the source of moxa / sa shi mo = "that much" (one commentary claims also sashi mo = "even painful", but I can't confirm that). Another: the first part of Ibuki, a mountain where sashimo grows, can be read as iu = "to say" or the whole can be read as iu beki = "should say".


kaku to dani
e ya wa ibuki no
sashimogusa
sa shi mo shiraji na
moyuru omoi o


---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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