1

This phrase is from a song the translation of

  "夜の街迷いし穢れの乱歩"

would be: Lost in a city at night, I take a random impure walk.

The question is: "迷い" in the dictionary means hesitation, perplexity, which does not look like its meaning in the sentence. So I was wondering where did "迷い" come from? comes from the verb "迷う"? if yes how did it become "迷い"? and yet how does it bind directly to 街 no particles? I know they give a lot of questions, can anyone explain me? my language is portuguese so sorry for any grammar mistake.

1

1 Answer 1

3

迷いし is an archaic variation of 迷った. It's still common in fiction, especially fantasy. See these questions:

As for 迷う itself, I personally feel its meaning is closer to "to wander about" rather than "to be lost" here, because it's clearly moving (乱歩). See さ迷う.

Note that 迷いし is a relative clause that modifies 穢れ, so it's the 穢れ ("impurity/corruption") itself that is wandering about. It's "steps of wandering impurity" rather than "I take an impure walk".

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .