Toshizo Hijikata · Shinsengumi
Original
しれば迷ひ
Toshizo Hijikata's poem, "しれば迷ひしなければ迷はぬ恋の道". Read the original Japanese, modern translation, interpretation, and historical context as distinct parts of the poem.
Person
Vice commander of the Shinsengumi, who fought on until the Hakodate War.
Learn about Hijikata Toshizo
Translation
Once love is known, the heart loses its way; without knowing it, one would never wander down love's road.
Poetic Shape Haiku relies on brevity, seasonal atmosphere, and a sharp pause. One small image is asked to carry more than it says.
Reading
The future stern vice commander places knowing love and losing one's way almost side by side.This is not a martial poem.Its plain phrasing preserves the uncertainty and quiet humor of a young man whose heart cannot return to stillness after love has been recognized.
Background
Writing under the poetic name Hogyoku, Hijikata compiled forty-one haiku into the Hogyoku Hokkusho shortly before leaving for Kyoto in 1863.Official material from Hino introduces this love poem alongside the surviving collection.Commentary connected with the Hijikata Toshizo Museum also draws attention to signs of revision in the manuscript, allowing us to meet the future Shinsengumi vice commander as a young man reconsidering his own words.
Source / Transmission Hino City and the Hijikata Toshizo Museum identify the Hogyoku Hokkusho as Hijikata's forty-one-poem collection compiled shortly before his departure for Kyoto; wording and line division may vary by source.
Further Reading
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