Shinagadori ina no o yukeba arimayama yūgiri tachinu yado wa nakushite

English Translation

As I cross the plain
of Ina, where the long birds fly,
over Mount Arima
the evening mists have risen,
and there is no inn for me.

Meaning

As I cross the plain of Ina, the evening mist has risen over Mount Arima, and there is no inn to shelter me.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 910

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the first of a sequence of poems on lodging for the night on a journey. Crossing the plain of Ina, the speaker sees evening mist rising over Mount Arima and has no inn for the night, the anxiety of a traveler on the plain at dusk. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author is given as "anonymous," and the name is not known.
The scene is dusk on a journey, on the plain of Ina in Settsu Province.
The direct occasion is not recorded.
The poem is included in Book Seven of the Man'yōshū as a poem by an unknown author composed in Settsu.

The first line, "shinagadori," is a pillow word for Ina.
The second line, "ina no o yukeba," means "as I cross the plain of Ina." Inano is the plain along the Ina River in Settsu, a famous place often paired with Mount Arima. The realis form with "ba" turns to the scene met along the way.
The third line, "arimayama," is a mountain in Settsu seen from the plain of Ina. The place name stands alone as a noun and leads into the scene of evening mist.
The fourth line, "yūgiri tachinu," means "the evening mist has risen." The perfective "nu" closes the line, and the poem breaks here, showing the plain as night falls.
The last line, "yado wa nakushite," means "with no inn to stay in." By inversion the traveler's unease comes last. Where 905 finds a house where cloth is being beaten and asks "yado ya karamashi," here there is no inn to borrow, reversing the presence and absence of shelter.

Author

Unknown Poet

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other