tu no kuni no
naniFa omoFazu
yamasiro no
toba ni aFimimu
koto wo nomi koso
In the land of Tsu,
Nothing is in my heart;
In Yamashiro,
In Toba, would I meet
You and that is all!
Anonymous
One thought on “KKS XIV: 696”
Thank you again for your wonderful translations, Temca! I use them weekly as a student in my Japanese Way of Tea classes for practicing poetic names attributed to tea scoops. It’s also good for me to practice my Japanese. I do my best to translate the poems myself (very crudely and literally, mind you) as a weekly challenge to myself for practicing language, as well as preparing for class. It makes me appreciate your translations so, so much. For this poem, it makes me particularly appreciate your translation of the second line. I, taking everything quite literally, gave a very unintentionally loaded feeling to this line making it sound as if meeting face to face was to be dreaded (translating the line so crudely as “it’s involuntary” wherein I think the “it’s” is an unsaid longing… to long reflexively or involuntarily, though I may be completely wrong in my inexperience, especially since I used 思わず instead of 思はず thinking it may be a phonetic change for the time period, but again, may be mistaken), but your translation carries the intention of the words beyond their literal meaning- giving them the meaning that was intended all along, I feel. I hope that makes sense. I’m a very visual person, so language is such a challenge to me! My interpretation may well be an enigma in and of itself.
I sought this poem out for its mention of Yamshiro, since my newest matcha is Yamashiro Uji, but the feelings associated with the poem weigh its significance today. My sensei and senpai very much appreciate this poem alongside me since we long to be face-to-face in the tea room again soon. The pandemic has limited us to virtual lessons and we hope to resume in person in spring. I think its wonderful how this tenderly kept old poem has life constantly changing in shape to each unique moment. I wonder what the writer would have thought had they known their poem would be appreciated in the context of this circumstance.
Thank you so much again for all your hard work. It’s completely invaluable to me. Wishing you well and good health!
Thank you again for your wonderful translations, Temca! I use them weekly as a student in my Japanese Way of Tea classes for practicing poetic names attributed to tea scoops. It’s also good for me to practice my Japanese. I do my best to translate the poems myself (very crudely and literally, mind you) as a weekly challenge to myself for practicing language, as well as preparing for class. It makes me appreciate your translations so, so much. For this poem, it makes me particularly appreciate your translation of the second line. I, taking everything quite literally, gave a very unintentionally loaded feeling to this line making it sound as if meeting face to face was to be dreaded (translating the line so crudely as “it’s involuntary” wherein I think the “it’s” is an unsaid longing… to long reflexively or involuntarily, though I may be completely wrong in my inexperience, especially since I used 思わず instead of 思はず thinking it may be a phonetic change for the time period, but again, may be mistaken), but your translation carries the intention of the words beyond their literal meaning- giving them the meaning that was intended all along, I feel. I hope that makes sense. I’m a very visual person, so language is such a challenge to me! My interpretation may well be an enigma in and of itself.
I sought this poem out for its mention of Yamshiro, since my newest matcha is Yamashiro Uji, but the feelings associated with the poem weigh its significance today. My sensei and senpai very much appreciate this poem alongside me since we long to be face-to-face in the tea room again soon. The pandemic has limited us to virtual lessons and we hope to resume in person in spring. I think its wonderful how this tenderly kept old poem has life constantly changing in shape to each unique moment. I wonder what the writer would have thought had they known their poem would be appreciated in the context of this circumstance.
Thank you so much again for all your hard work. It’s completely invaluable to me. Wishing you well and good health!