Front
Back
Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
源俊頼朝臣
憂かりける
人を初瀬の
山おろしよ
はげしかれとは
祈らぬものを
はけしかれ
とはいのら
ぬものを
うか
- Poem 74
- 憂かりける
人を初瀬の
山おろしよ
はげしかれとは 祈らぬものを
Author: Minamoto no Toshiyori Ason (1055–1129)
Source: Senzai Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- Oh! Kwannon, Patron of this hill, The maid, for whom I pine, Is obstinate and wayward, like
The gusts around thy shrine. What of those prayers of mine?
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- I prayed to the storm wind of Hatsuse — but I never prayed for it to grow fiercer. Why has this person become so cold to me?
- Commentary
- According to the headnote in the Senzai Wakashū, this poem was composed "at the residence of Middle Counselor Toshitada, when ten poems on love were composed, on the theme of a love unanswered despite prayer." It was written at a poetry gathering hosted by Fujiwara no Toshitada, father of Fujiwara no Shunzei, on the set topic of "love that prayer cannot win." The "Hase" mentioned in the poem is a place in present-day Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, home to Hase-dera Temple, famous for its Kannon worship.
- About the Poet
- Minamoto no Toshiyori was known for his innovative poetic style, and alongside Fujiwara no Mototoshi (Poem 75), a champion of more traditional forms, he stood as one of the twin pillars of poetry during the era of cloistered rule. Though he held only a minor court rank, he was commissioned by Retired Emperor Shirakawa to compile the Kin'yō Wakashū, and led the poetic circles of his day, participating in numerous poetry gatherings both as a composer and as a judge.
- Minamoto no Toshiyori Ason'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)
I only wished you'd turn and look my way —
I never meant for it to come to this.The more I pray, the more my longing grows,
and still it never reaches you.
- 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).