いにしへの真間の手児奈をかくばかり
恋てしあらん真間のてこなを
恋てしあらん真間のてこなを
- Roma-ji
-
Inishie no Mama no Tekona o kaku bakari
koiteshi aran Mama no Tekona o - English Translation
-
So greatly, even so,
the ancient Mama no Tegona
was loved like this—
so must she have been loved,
Mama no Tegona of Mama.
- Meaning
- O Mama no Tegona of the old tales—surely you too were loved by so many, just as deeply as Katsushirō’s heart loves in this tale of the present.
- Commentary
-
Volume Two, Asaji ga Yado.
This poem was composed by a rustic commoner who is said to have heard the story of the couple Katsushirō and Miyaki who appear in this tale.
He overlays within himself the old tale of Mama no Tegona and the present tale of Miyaki.
Mama no Tegona was raised in a poor household, yet she was a maiden of great beauty.
Not only the people of her village but also those who came from neighboring provinces, and even warriors who came from the capital, fell in love with her. Troubled by her wish to respond to the love of so many, she cast herself into the sea.
In the Man’yōshū, Volume Nine, there is a poem titled “One Poem on the Maiden of Mama in Katsushika.”
- Author
- Ueda Akinari
- Source
- Ugetsu Monogatari
- Prev Poem
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Saritomo to omou kokoro ni hakararete
yo ni mo kyō made ikeru inochi ka - Next Poem
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Matsu no o no mine shizuka naru akebono ni
ōgite kikeba buppōsō naku