At my gate I plant
A shadow a thousand fathoms—
If it grows there tall,
In summer and winter too
Who would not hide in its shade?
- Meaning
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Since a great tree casting a vast shadow has been planted at my gate, in the heat of summer or in the strong winds and heavy snows of winter, who among the family would not take shelter in its shade?
- Commentary
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79. A Shadow a Thousand Fathoms
Within the clan a prince was born. At the celebration for the birth house (festivities held on the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth days after birth, beginning in the evening), people composed poems. This prince was Prince Sadasu. He was born to the daughter of Chunagon Yukihira, the elder brother of the Middle Captain, yet people at the time rumored that he was the child of the Middle Captain. The Middle Captain refers to Ariwara no Narihira.
The poem was composed by a relative on the grandfather’s side of the prince.
The poem expresses the meaning that, since a prince has been born within the clan, the members of the family will receive protection in any circumstance.
The clan refers to the Ariwara family. In the Heian period the influence of the emperor was strong, and the birth of a prince must have raised great expectations among the clan.
Because Narihira was known as a passionate and amorous man and rejoiced at the birth of the prince as if it were his own affair, perhaps rumors arose that the child was in fact Narihira’s.
“A shadow a thousand fathoms” refers to a very wide and great shade. A hiro is the length of a person’s outstretched arms, about one ken (approximately 1.8 meters).
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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