Koko ni arite tsukushi ya izuko shirakumo no tanabiku yama no nishi ni aru rashi

English Translation

Here where I am now,
where lies Tsukushi, I wonder?
It seems to be there,
beyond the mountains trailing
white clouds, far away to the west.

Meaning

Here where I now stand, I wonder where Tsukushi lies. It must be to the west of those mountains where white clouds trail.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 901

Headnote: "When he came up from Tsukushi after completing his term as Governor-General."
This is the sixth of a sequence of travel poems from the age of the Man'yōshū. Wondering where Tsukushi lies, the speaker guesses it must be west of the mountains where white clouds trail. According to the headnote, the poem was composed when he came up from Tsukushi after his term as Governor-General of Dazaifu.
The author, "Major Counselor Tabito," is Ōtomo no Tabito. A noble of the Nara period, he served as Governor-General of Dazaifu and rose to Major Counselor. He was the father of Ōtomo no Yakamochi.
The scene is after his return at the end of his term, in the capital, far from Tsukushi.
The direct occasion is his return from Tsukushi at the end of his term as Governor-General.
The poem is included in Book Four of the Man'yōshū as Tabito's reply, after returning to the capital, to the monk Mansei who remained in Tsukushi, with minor differences in wording.

The first line, "koko ni arite," means "here where I am now." A hypermetric line of six syllables, it first fixes the place where he stands.
The second line, "tsukushi ya izuko," means "where might Tsukushi be?" It is a question with the particle "ya," and the poem breaks after this second line.
The third line, "shirakumo no," means "white clouds," and becomes the subject of "tanabiku."
The fourth line, "tanabiku yama no," means "of the mountains where they trail." 906 also has "shirakumo no tanabikiwataru," and mountains veiled in white cloud recur as the image of distance on a journey.
The last line, "nishi ni aru rashi," means "it seems to lie to the west." "Rashi" expresses a grounded inference; using the clouded mountains before him as a clue, he infers the direction of the unseen Tsukushi. Where 896 looks back at home while going away, this poem looks back at a former post from the place he has returned to, reversing the direction of the backward glance.

Author

Ōtomo no Tabito

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other