Wakana ouru nobe to iu nobe o kimi ga tame yorozuyo shimete tsuman to zo omou

English Translation

Where young greens spring up,
every field that's called a field,
all for my dear lord,
roping off for ten thousand ages,
I will pick the greens, I think.

Meaning

Every field where young greens grow, for my lord's sake, I will rope off as my own for ten thousand ages and gather the greens there—so I resolve.

Commentary

Book Seven Felicitation Poems 711

Headnote: "Composed on a scene of gathering young greens, on a screen for the sixtieth-year celebration of the Kyōshi-in."
This poem was composed for a screen painting of gathering young greens. The speaker vows to rope off every field where young greens grow for ten thousand ages and to gather them for the lord's sake. According to the headnote, it was composed on a scene of gathering young greens painted on a screen for the sixtieth-year celebration of the Kyōshi-in.
No author's name is given; the poem follows the preceding one as a poem by Ki no Tsurayuki.
The scene is the gathering of young greens in the First Month, and the place is a field painted on the screen.
The direct occasion is a poem written for the screen prepared for the sixtieth-year celebration of the Kyōshi-in.
The "Kyōshi-in" of the headnote is usually written "Teiji-in"; it was the residence of Retired Emperor Uda and was also used as a name for the retired emperor himself. Here the writing of the main text is followed. Gathering young greens was a custom of going out into the fields in the First Month to pick and eat young greens, praying for long life and freedom from illness.

The first line, "wakana ouru," means "where young greens grow," and has six syllables, one more than the norm. It points to the fields where the greens of the First Month spring up.
The second line, "nobe to iu nobe o," means "every field that is called a field," and has eight syllables, one more than the norm. Repeating the same word conveys the grandeur of claiming every field there is.
The third line, "kimi ga tame," means "for my lord's sake." The gathering of greens is defined as an act for the one being celebrated.
In the fourth line, "yorozuyo shimete," "shimu" means to rope off ground as one's own. 709 in this book also speaks of a field "roped off" on the Day of the Rat, so the conceit of marking a field recurs. Here the roping off extends for ten thousand ages.
In the last line, "tsuman to zo omou," the emphatic particle "zo" is concluded by the attributive form "omou" in kakari-musubi. The poem widens a passing seasonal custom into a felicitation lasting ten thousand ages, turning the painted scene into a prayer for long life.

Author

Ki no Tsurayuki

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other