大幣と名にこそたてれ流れても
つひに寄る瀬はありというものを
つひに寄る瀬はありというものを
- Roma-ji
-
Ōnusa to na ni koso tatere nagarete mo
tsui ni yoru se wa ari to iu mono o - English Translation
-
A great sacred wand—
So you have named me indeed;
Though I drift away,
Even one borne down the stream
At last will find a shallows.
- Meaning
- You have indeed made me known as a great sacred wand sought by many, yet even one set adrift upon the current will in the end find a shallows where it comes to rest.
- Commentary
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47. Like a Great Sacred Wand
There was a man who wished somehow to make a certain woman his lover. However, having heard that he was reputed to be an unfaithful and insincere man, the woman gradually began to treat him coldly.
This poem is the man’s reply to the woman’s poem: “Like a great sacred wand, drawn by many reaching hands—so you have become; though I think of you with love, I cannot rely on you.”
In response to her poem of cold rejection, the man suggests that even if rumors of his inconstancy flow about like a current, in the end he relies upon her alone. For him it may be a sincere feeling, yet it can also be taken as the persuasive words of a womanizer.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Other
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- Even if unseen, I cannot think we are apart; for there is no time when you are ever forgot— your form stands before my eyes.
- Like a great sacred wand, Drawn by many reaching hands— So you have become; Though I think of you with love, I cannot rely on you.
- Now at last I know How bitter a thing it is To wait for someone; I should not have stayed away From the place where one would wait.
- So tender and young, Fresh young grass, fair to lie on— Thus it seems to me; That someone will bind it close For a pillow—this I think on.