Round Eighty-Seven

Left

わすらるる身をばおもはずちかひてし人のいのちのをしくも有るかな

wasuraruru mi oba omowazu chikaiteshi hito no inochi no oshiku mo aru kana

Forgotten and abandoned But I care not; He made a vow before the gods, And his life now Is only to be pitied, I think.

173[1]

Right

おほえ山いくのの道のとほければまだふみもみずあまのはしだて

ōeyama ikuno no michi no tōkereba mada fumi mo miezu ama no hashidate

In Ōeyama The path to Ikuno Lies far away, so I’ve not set foot upon it, or had a letter from Ama-no-Hashidate!

174[2]

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[1] Shūishū XIV: 870: Topic unknown.

[2] Kin’yōshū IX: 550 (2)/Kin’yōshū IX 543 (3): During the period when Izumi Shiku had accompanied Yasumasa to Tango, when there was a poetry match in the capital and Handmaid Koshikibu was selected as one of the poets, Lord Sadayori came to her chamber at the palace and went on at her, asking, ‘How are your poems coming along? Will you be sending them to your mother in Tango? Has your messenger not returned yet?’ and really seemed very unsettled about everything, so she composed this as a playful way of preventing him from going himself.