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So, here is the poem:
花の色は
うつりにけりな
いたづらに
わが身世にふる
ながめせしまに
And here is the translation:
Color of the flower
Has already faded away,
While in idle thoughts
My life passes vainly by,
As I watch the long rains fall.
My question is about the last line. Does せし mean "watch?" If it does, can you explain its form to me?
Also, what function does the な in the second line serve?
I've dabbled a bit in reading old poetry, but I'm far from an expert, especially as this is 9th century!
However, I found a relatively easy to use site in Japanese (that looks quite trustworthy).
According to that 'na' acts as a kind of stress, drawing attention to the rest of the second line. 'Na' and 'naa' are still used in this sense in modern Japanese.
http://100nin1shu1.seesaa.net/pages/user/m/article?article_id=34366272&stq=session%3A%3Ablog%3A%3A80502de6aaf47dde5748ec36e5e1a11b
Then 'se' is the mizenkei form of 'suru' and 'shi' is the rentaikei of the auxiliary verb 'ki'. I don't quite understand this myself, other than that 'seshi' is basically a form of 'suru'.
http://100nin1shu1.seesaa.net/pages/user/m/article?article_id=34586572&stq=session%3A%3Ablog%3A%3A5cb071f9ac7e81ebd3c076195ac0a125
'Nagame' is a play on words, meaning both 'long rain' and 'watch', and the translator has included both these meanings.
Thank you very much! I read the blogger's whole explanation, and I was glad to see that there were more interpretations than the English translation permitted. Your explanation was helpful too, so thank you.
seshi - su(ru)+1st person "recollective" (kind of like a progressive past) :) ("seshi" because it's an exception to prevent the forming of "shishi")
na is yes, basically a place holder in poetry, you can think of it like a ';'
Thanks! ^_^
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