Quote:
Originally Posted by Sashimister
Unfortunately, I possess neither the intelligence nor the generosity to translate a poem in Modern English into Classical Japanese for a stranger for free. I'm merely a lowly Shinjuku wino.
What I posted is the original by Dougen. If anything, that is guaranteed. We all learn that tanka in high school. However, after 30+ years and 800 gallons of ale, I wasn't able to remember it in its entirety; therefore, I had to google it or rather Yahoo-Japan it.
Yahoo!検索 - ”聞くままに また心なき身にしあれば”
心 means both mind and heart as well as other things such as, feeling, sympathy, attention and mood. It really means anything about a human except for his physical aspects. This is why I always had trouble deciding which word to opt for when studying English as a foreign language.
The 心なき身 means "one's pure mental self without the worldly greed" according to my half-sober brain today. What Dougen is trying to say is that you need to be absorbed in your studies/job to be able to really see and become one with the object.
EDIT: Oops, others beat me to it. |
Ah yes! I just read your reply before I got a chance to post mine and that helps immensely. 心なき身 is exactly what I was getting it with my example. (BTW how would you transliterate that?). If you or anyone else could follow up any my other queries I would be forever grateful.
While I think you should ease up on the drinking, or quit altogether, it speaks volumes of you that Dougen's tanka has still stayed with you. Blessings.