Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
おほけなく
Jien · 前大僧正慈圓
おほけなく
うき世の民に
おほふかな
我が立つ杣に
墨染の袖
Historical kana
おほけなく
うきよのたみに
おほふかな
わがたつそまに
すみぞめのそで
Original English translation
Presumptuously, I spread my ink-dark sleeves over the people of this painful world, from the mountain forest where I stand.
History and context
Jien was a Tendai monk and author of the historical work Gukanshō. The poem evokes Mount Hiei’s monastic tradition and the wish for religious practice to offer protection to society.
Imagery and wordplay
The monk’s dark robe becomes a shelter. The opening modesty acknowledges the scale of the aspiration.
Senzaishū · 千載集雑中1134
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.