Wasurenamu matsu to na tsuge so nakanaka ni inaba no yama no mine no akikaze

English Translation

Let me forget it:
do not tell me they are waiting,
that makes it worse—
you, autumn wind on the peak
of Mount Inaba, pine-clad.

Meaning

Let me forget: do not tell me they are waiting, like the pines—that would only make it harder—autumn wind on the peak of Mount Inaba.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 968

Headnote: "On the topic 'Autumn journey' at a poetry contest held at the house of the Regent and Chancellor."
This is the fourth of a sequence of poems on scenes and thoughts along the road. Wanting to forget home, the speaker bids the autumn wind on the peak of Mount Inaba not to tell him that someone waits, for that would only make it harder. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Autumn journey" at a poetry contest held at the house of the Regent and Chancellor.
The author, Fujiwara no Teika, was a son of Fujiwara no Shunzei and a poet of the early Kamakura period. He was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokin Wakashū.
The scene is an autumn journey, at Mount Inaba in Inaba Province.
The direct occasion is composing on the topic "Autumn journey" at a poetry contest held at the residence of Regent and Chancellor Fujiwara no Yoshitsune.
The source poem is Ariwara no Yukihira's parting poem in the Kokin Wakashū: "Though we part and I go, if I hear you wait for me, like the pines growing on the peak of Mount Inaba, I will come back at once." This poem takes from it the words "inaba no yama," "mine," and "matsu." It was composed when Yukihira left for his post in Inaba.

The first line, "wasurenamu," means "let me forget." The intensive "na" with the volitional "mu" tries to cut off longing for home. The poem breaks after the first line. Like "wasurene hito o" in 954, it sings of a heart trying to forget home.
In the second line, "matsu to na tsuge so," "matsu" carries both "matsu," to wait, and "matsu," pine. "Na ... so" expresses a prohibition. Where the source poem vows to return on hearing that someone waits, this poem forbids being told that someone waits, reversing the source poem's feeling.
The third line, "nakanaka ni," means "that would only make it worse." It shows that hearing someone waits would be all the harder for one who cannot go back. The poem breaks again after this third line.
In the fourth line, "inaba no yama no," "inaba" carries both "inaba," "if I go," and Inaba Province. The words are the same as in the source poem.
The last line, "mine no akikaze," means "autumn wind on the peak," naming the one addressed with a noun ending. Following "toko no yamakaze" in the preceding poem and "akikaze zo fuku" in 966, three poems on the autumn wind are set side by side.

Author

Fujiwara no Teika

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other