Kokinshu #861
Sunday, 22 November 2009 08:53![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammer Although, yes, I had
heard before about the road
we take in the end,
I did not think, yesterday,
I would start on it today.
ETA: I've revised the last line to "that I would take it today."
Tsui ni yuku
michi to wa kanete
kikishikado
kinou kyou to wa
omowazarishi o
---L.
heard before about the road
we take in the end,
I did not think, yesterday,
I would start on it today.
—17 November 2009
Original by Ariwara no Narihira, also collected as Ise monogatari #125, where it is said to be his death verse. This has not one but two pile-ups of bonus archaic aspects -- thank you, Internets, for your books of Old Japanese grammar that use famous poems for examples of obscure verb forms. "Start on" is a slight interpolation -- something like "that it would be today" would be closer to the original, but not as strong in English.ETA: I've revised the last line to "that I would take it today."
Tsui ni yuku
michi to wa kanete
kikishikado
kinou kyou to wa
omowazarishi o
---L.