Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
寂しさに
Ryōzen Hōshi · 良暹法師
寂しさに
宿を立ち出でて
眺むれば
いづくも同じ
秋の夕暮
Historical kana
さびしさに
やどをたちいでて
ながむれば
いづくもおなじ
あきのゆふぐれ
Original English translation
In loneliness I leave my dwelling and look around: everywhere is the same autumn evening.
History and context
Ryōzen’s poem belongs to the Goshuishū autumn sequence. The act of leaving a solitary dwelling tests whether a change of place can alter the speaker’s state of mind.
Imagery and wordplay
The widening view offers no escape. The identical dusk makes inward loneliness feel spread across the landscape.
Goshuishū · 後拾遺集秋上333
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.