大淀の浜に生ふてふみるからに
心はなぎぬ語らはねども
心はなぎぬ語らはねども
- Roma-ji
-
Ōyodo no hama ni ou chō miru kara ni
kokoro wa naginu katarawanedomo - English Translation
-
At Ōyodo’s shore
Where the miru seaweed grows—
Only seeing it,
My heart grows calm and gentle,
Though no words are spoken.
- Meaning
- Hearing that you would go to see the miru seaweed said to grow on the shore of Ōyodo, merely seeing you has already brought calm to my heart, even without exchanging words of affection.
- Commentary
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75. At Ōyodo
A certain man said to a woman, "I wish to take you with me to the province of Ise and live there together."
The poem was composed by the woman as her reply to the man’s invitation.
The poem carries the meaning, "Your words alone are enough for me; there is no need for me to go with you all the way to Ise," and thus the woman declines the man’s proposal.
Perhaps the man, drawn to the peaceful atmosphere of distant Ise far from the capital, imagined an escape there with a woman he favored.
"Naginu" is the completed form of "nagu," an expression associated with the sea, meaning calm or windless waters.
"Katarawane domo" refers to the exchange of tender, intimate words. Both "to meet" and "to converse" are expressions suggesting the sharing of affection and the forming of a bond.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Other
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- Seen with my own eyes, Yet never held in my hands— Like the moon’s laurel That stands within the bright moon, So indeed are you to me.
- Not a mountain range Where one treads on rocky roots Climbing peak on peak— Yet so many days pass by Without meeting, and I long.
- Sleeves wet with the sea, As the fisher cuts and dries Miru of the sea— Is it only seeing me That you will let it end so?
- From the rocks between The mirume grows there—if still It shows no change yet, Ebbing tide and rising tide May bring shells to cling at last.