The digger wasps cry,
in the autumn bush clover fields,
at dawn you depart;
when shall I await the day
the traveler returns?
- Meaning
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As the digger wasps cry in the autumn bush clover fields, you depart on your journey at dawn. I will wait, wondering when you will return.
- Commentary
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Book Eight: Poems of Parting
This poem describes the departure of a beloved person setting out on a journey, not knowing when they will return.\n\nUnlike today, travel in those days was neither convenient nor safe, and there were few means of communication. The poem expresses the poet's anxiety over whether the beloved traveler will return home safely, while waiting and wondering when that day will come.
- Author
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Unknown Poet
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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From Kasuga's mount
high-peaked, the rising sun—
never veiled by clouds,
shall without a clouded hour
shine upon the world, it seems
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Though we part and go,
if on Inaba's mountain
peaks the pine trees grow,
and I should hear that you still wait,
I shall return even now
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Though far we may part,
beyond the boundless clouded sky,
to distant realms,
shall I leave your heart behind
within my own? Never.
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As your mother's guard,
my heart goes along with you;
let that heart alone
not be stopped nor held back fast
by the barriers on your way.