How hollow
Are tears upon a sleeve
In gemlets;
For mine cannot be dammed
As a surging flood!
Notes
This poem was the reply she gave to Abe no Kiyoyuki when he sent her a poem oldpoetry.com/poetry/49830
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One day at a memorial service for someone at the Lower Izumo Temple, Abe no Kiyoyuki listened to the Monk Shinsei giving a sermon and sent this message to Ono no Komachi:
I may wrap them up, but
In my sleeve, they will not stay,
These white jewels,
Shed for a lady I cannot glimpse
Are my tears.
The above tanka was her reply to him.
♥ Kimberly -
This is a very interesting tanka. In this tanka, I believe the poetess has compared the sorrow and sadness of people to that of herself. Basically, she is talking about the nature of tears and the depth of the sorrow one suffers in this write. Here, I believe, by the Kaminshu the poetess means that people's tears are so empty {not solid} or worthless. They have not truly suffered and hence their tears fall as mere 'drops', thus, the use of the word 'hollow'. Their sorrow is nothing. Also, maybe they are crying just to show the world they are sad about something though not really sad. Just pretence at play {crocodile tears}. Yet, she does believe tears have value and compares them to precious gemstones. In the Shimonoku, the poetess has brought forth her own sorrow/sadness. She believes that her own tears are very real and have great value. They are as precious as gemstones and are as powerful and great{in number} as the number of drops that make a flood. Her pain is deep and more sad. She has undergone greater suffering than other people. In other words, the sorrow of the poetess exceeds that of the other people in a big way. Her sorrow or loss or what she grieves for is unending and really terrible. This tanka leaves me in tears...
Charishma -
very simple,but powerful
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I read this and sigh. Ono No Komachi is a favorite of mine.
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