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Hyakunin Isshu #82
Friday, 27 August 2010 07:36 Complete misery ...
but nevertheless my life,
alas, still exists --
instead, it is these my tears
that cannot bear my despair.
This clearly should come with picture of a mopy Heian courtier with a shock of emo hair over his eyes -- playing a koto -- by himself -- in the rain. Alas, none of the traditional illustrators seem to agree with me.
omoiwabi
sate mo inochi wa
aru mono o
uki ni taenu wa
namida narikeri
---L.
but nevertheless my life,
alas, still exists --
instead, it is these my tears
that cannot bear my despair.
—16 August 2010
Original by Dôin, a monk whose lay name was Fujiwara no Atsuyori. It's unknown whether he wrote this before or after he took orders, but Toshinari (#83), his contemporary, placed it among the love poems in the Senzaishu anthology. I read mono o as a pivot word: "thing" (that exists) + contrastive conjunction / particle indicating complaint.This clearly should come with picture of a mopy Heian courtier with a shock of emo hair over his eyes -- playing a koto -- by himself -- in the rain. Alas, none of the traditional illustrators seem to agree with me.
omoiwabi
sate mo inochi wa
aru mono o
uki ni taenu wa
namida narikeri
---L.