君が代の千歳の数も隠れなく
曇らぬ空の光にぞ見る
曇らぬ空の光にぞ見る
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ga yo no chitose no kazu mo kakure naku kumoranu sora no hikari ni zo miru
- English Translation
-
Of my lord's great reign,
even the count of thousand years
is hidden no more—
in the light of the cloudless sky
I see it there, shining clear.
- Meaning
- Even the thousand years of my lord's reign are hidden no longer; I see them plainly in the light of this cloudless sky.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Felicitation Poems 724
Headnote: "When it had rained for days before the lustration for the Great Thanksgiving Festival of Retired Emperor Horikawa, and the sky cleared on the very day, I sent this to Handmaid Kii."
This is the third poem of the sequence celebrating the reign through clear water and the light of the sky. Even the thousand years of the lord's reign are not hidden but seen in the light of the cloudless sky. According to the headnote, on the day of the lustration for Horikawa's Great Thanksgiving Festival, the sky cleared after days of rain, and the poem was sent to Handmaid Kii.
The author is Minamoto no Akifusa, a son of Minamoto no Morofusa. He rose to Minister of the Right, and because his daughter Kenshi became consort of Emperor Shirakawa and bore Emperor Horikawa, he was Horikawa's maternal grandfather.
The scene is the day of the lustration for Horikawa's Great Thanksgiving Festival, and the place is the site of the lustration under a clear sky.
The direct occasion is the clearing of the sky on the day of the lustration after continued rain.
The Great Thanksgiving Festival is the first harvest festival held by an emperor after enthronement, preceded by a lustration in which the emperor goes out to a riverbank to purify himself. "Handmaid Kii" was a naishi no suke called Kii, the naishi no suke being a female official ranking second in the Palace Attendants' Office.
The first line, "kimi ga yo no," means "of my lord's reign." Here it celebrates the reign of Horikawa as he approaches the Great Thanksgiving Festival.
The second line, "chitose no kazu mo," means "even the count of a thousand years." The next poem, 725, also speaks of "the count of my lord's thousand years," sharing the conceit of presenting the years of the reign as a number.
The third line, "kakure naku," means "without being hidden." The clearing of a sky hidden by rain clouds is overlaid with the years of the reign becoming plainly visible.
The fourth line, "kumoranu sora no," means "of the cloudless sky." Echoing "kumori naku" in 722 in this book, it sees a clear and bright reign in the clear sky.
In the last line, "hikari ni zo miru," the emphatic particle "zo" is concluded by the attributive form "miru" in kakari-musubi. Whereas the preceding poem sang of light at the bottom of a pond, this poem sings of the light of the sky, moving the light from water to heaven. The clear weather on the day of lustration is celebrated as a sign of the reign's long duration.
- Author
- Minamoto no Akifusa
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- Without any cloud, on the water's face, clear and dwelling a thousand years, the moon that lodges there— its light, too, is calm and still.
- The water of the pond, through the ages, for so long has dwelt and grown clear, that the jewel weeds on its floor are seen to glimmer with light.
- At Suminoe, on the pine that grows and grows, in each of its boughs the count of my lord's thousand years lies held within, laid away.
- Awaiting all ages, Matsu-no-o, the mountain of pines, so thick is its shade— it is for you, my lord, I pray: be as lasting as the rock.