Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.68 三条院「心にも あらで憂き世に ながらへば 恋しかるべき 夜半の月かな」

心にも あらで憂き世に ながらへば 恋しかるべき 夜半の月かな

三条院

if I must go on living I will miss this moon

if I must go on living I will miss this moon

キーワードKeywords

Unwilling SurvivalMidnight MoonFuture NostalgiaAbdicationFailing Sight
★★ Miscellaneous

三条院Retired Emperor Sanjō — No. 68 帝・皇族Sovereign

An emperor whose failing eyesight forced him to abdicate after five years; he left a poem grieving the midnight moon.

こころにも あらでうきよに ながらへば こひしかるべき よはのつきかな

Kokoro ni mo Arade ukiyo ni Nagaraeba Koishikaru beki Yowa no tsuki kana

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

A ruler about to step down, eyesight already going, looking at the midnight moon. He is not remembering it — he is pre-remembering it, from a future in which he is still unwillingly alive.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Mono no Aware (Pre-emptive Loss)

The poem looks back at the present from a future vantage point, which colors the moment while it is still happening. Anticipated nostalgia is one of the strongest tenses available.