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Hyakunin Isshu No. 66 · Archbishop GyōsonMorotomoni

“Alone, Together” — Archbishop GyōsonSource: Kin'yō Wakashū, Miscellaneous I · 521
もろともに あはれと思へ 山桜
花よりほかに 知る人もなし
Morotomoni aware to omoe yamazakura
hana yori hoka ni shiru hito mo nashi
Let us feel for each other, mountain cherry —
for but you, my flower, no one here knows me.
Hyakunin IsshuKin'yō WakashūMiscellaneousSpringLonelinessCherry blossoms deep in the mountains (Mt. Ōmine)
Morotomoni jacket art▶

What the poem says

Let us pity each other, mountain cherry — as I long for you, so long for me, for I have no other friend who knows my heart but your blossoms.

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ

The Story

歌のものがたり

Historical Background

Archbishop Gyōson (1055–1135) was a Buddhist monk of the late Heian period and a great-grandson of Emperor Sanjō. He took vows at twelve and entered Onjō-ji (Mii-dera), and from his youth he trained as a mountain ascetic, walking the steep peaks of Ōmine and Kumano. He later rose to become head of the Tendai school and Archbishop, and was known for the power of his prayers. The poem appears in the Miscellaneous section of the Kin'yō Wakashū, with the headnote "Composed on unexpectedly seeing cherry blossoms in bloom at Ōmine." It is a poem about stumbling upon a wild cherry flowering deep in the mountains, where no one goes.

The Poet's Heart

"Morotomoni" means "together, with each other." "Aware to omoe" means "feel tenderly for me." Just as I feel for you, feel for me too, he calls to the mountain cherry. "Hana yori hoka ni shiru hito mo nashi" means that here in the deep mountains, no one but you knows who I am. A cherry tree blooming where no one sees it, and a man training where no one knows him. Two solitary beings meet by chance in the heart of the mountains and try to reach each other.

What We Put into the Lyrics

What drew us to this poem was that, in the middle of his harsh training, Gyōson spoke not to a person but to a single cherry tree. To call "together" to something that cannot answer, he must have been very deeply alone. Yet from the side of the cherry, blooming where no one saw it, Gyōson was also the first one who ever noticed it. In the lyrics we laid that meeting over a misty mountain path today. One person, and one tree. When two lonely beings meet, "no one knows me" is no longer only a lonely phrase. Like the mist clearing to show what could not be seen, we sang the moment a heart that thought itself alone comes undone, as a quiet and mysterious rising.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

もろともに(金葉集/大僧正行尊・百人一首66番)Garu JP

Verse 1

霧の奥の 名前のない 道をゆく

熊よけの 鈴の音が 先をゆく

振り返れば 来た道も 白く 埋もれる

誰も知らない 山を ひとり のぼる

Pre-Chorus

声を出せば 霧が 吸いこんでいく

その奥に ほのかな 灯りが ひとつ

Chorus

もろともに あはれと思へ 山桜

花よりほかに 知る人もなし

咲いていたのか こんなところで

誰に 見せるでもなく

もろともに もろともに

ひとりと ひとつ

Verse 2

はるか昔 岩を踏み 滝に打たれた 僧がいた

険しい峰の その途中で

ひとひらの 薄紅に 足を 止めた

はじめて 誰かに 話しかけた

Pre-Chorus

返事はない それでも 揺れていた

うなずくように 枝の先が

Chorus

もろともに あはれと思へ 山桜

花よりほかに 知る人もなし

泣いたことも 笑ったことも

知っているのは 君だけ

もろともに もろともに

ここにいる

Bridge

風が止む

霧が晴れる

谷いっぱいに

花びらが 降る

Last Chorus

もろともに あはれと思へ 山桜

花よりほかに 知る人もなし

ひとりきりだと 思ってた

見えなかった だけだった

もろともに もろともに

ひとりと ひとつ

Outro

山桜 知る人もなし

English

Morotomoni (Kin'yo-shu / Archbishop Gyoson, Hyakunin Isshu No. 66) Garu JP

Deep in the mist, I walk a path that has no name

The bell I carry for the bears goes on ahead of me

I look back, and even the way I came is buried in white

Climbing alone up a mountain no one knows

When I call out, the mist swallows my voice

and far within it, one faint light

"Together, let us feel for each other, mountain cherry,

for no one knows me but you, my flower"

So you were blooming here, in a place like this

not showing yourself to anyone

Together, together

one person, one tree

Long ago there was a monk who trod the rocks and stood beneath the falls

Halfway up the steep ridges

he stopped before a single petal of pale pink

and for the first time, he spoke to someone

There was no answer, and yet it swayed

the tip of a branch, as if to nod

"Together, let us feel for each other, mountain cherry,

for no one knows me but you, my flower"

The times I cried, the times I laughed

you are the only one who knows

Together, together

you are here

The wind falls still

The mist clears

and all across the valley

petals are falling

"Together, let us feel for each other, mountain cherry,

for no one knows me but you, my flower"

I thought that I was all alone

I just couldn't see

Together, together

one person, one tree

Mountain cherry, no one knows but you

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