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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
西行法師
嘆けとて
月やは物を
思はする
かこち顔なる
わが涙かな
かこちかほ
なるわかな
みたかな
なげけ
- Poem 86
- 嘆けとて
月やは物を
思はする
かこち顔なる わが涙かな
Author: Priest Saigyō (1118–1190)
Source: Senzai Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- O'ercome with pity for this world, My tears obscure my sight; I wonder, can it be the moon
Whose melancholy light Has saddened me to-night?
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- Did the moon ask me to grieve? These tears on my face — it is as if I am blaming the moon for making me feel this way.
- Commentary
- This poem was composed on the assigned topic of "love beneath the moon." It captures the feeling of a heart quietly enduring sorrow, shedding tears for a lost love while pretending, almost, that the moon itself is to blame.
- About the Poet
- Priest Saigyō, born Satō Norikiyo, served Retired Emperor Toba as a Palace Guard and held the post of Left Guards Lieutenant, but at the age of twenty-three he abandoned both his post and his family to become a monk. One theory holds that he took this step to sever his feelings after falling in love with Retired Emperor Toba's consort, Empress Taiken. After taking Buddhist vows, he became a wandering poet, traveling to Tōhoku, the Chūgoku region, Shikoku, and beyond, composing many waka in dialogue with the natural world he encountered on his travels.
- Priest Saigyō'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)
The clear moon says nothing at all.
And still, deep inside, my heart quietly stirs.Unable to speak my longing aloud,
I let my tears fall, hidden in the moonlight.
- 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).