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English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
謙徳公
あはれとも
いふべき人は
思ほえで
身のいたづらに
なりぬべきかな
みのいたつ
らになりぬ
へきかな
あわれ
- Poem 45
- あはれとも
いふべき人は
思ほえで
身のいたづらに なりぬべきかな
Author: Kentoku-kō (924–972)
Source: Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- I dare not hope my lady-love Will smile on me again; She knows no Pity, and my life I care
not to retain, Since all my prayers are vain.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- There is no one who might show even a little compassion. I feel as though my life will simply fade away, just like that.
- Commentary
- According to the headnote in the Shūi Wakashū, this poem expresses the pain of heartbreak. That the poet — a man later known for reaching the very heights of political power — would lay bare such a crushed heart and plead simply to be pitied seems to underscore how, no matter how powerful a person becomes, love never quite bends to their will.
- About the Poet
- Kentoku-kō is the posthumous title of Fujiwara no Koretada. Koretada was the grandson of Teishin-kō (Poem 26), and his father was the Minister of the Right, Fujiwara no Morosuke. Though his father had left him instructions to live frugally, Koretada led a life of extravagant luxury. Late in life, after his daughter gave birth to Prince Morosada (later Emperor Kazan), he rose to the position of regent and Chancellor of the Realm — but died the following year at the age of forty-eight. Fujiwara no Yoshitaka (Poem 50) was his third son.
- Kentoku-kō's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
You won't turn to look at me anymore.
No one else seems to notice my sorrow, either.If I simply faded away like this,
I doubt anyone would even know.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).