かきやりしその黒髪の筋ごとに
うち臥すほどは面影ぞ立つ
うち臥すほどは面影ぞ立つ
- Roma-ji
-
Kakiyarishi sono kurokami no suji goto ni uchifusu hodo wa omokage zo tatsu
- English Translation
-
That long black hair
which I once smoothed back for her,
strand by single strand—
whenever I lie down alone,
her image rises before me
- Meaning
- That black hair I once brushed aside with my hand, strand by strand, rises before me as her image whenever I lie down alone.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1390
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the sequence recalling a past love. Each strand of the woman's black hair that he once brushed aside rises as her image when he lies down alone. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Teika Ason," is Fujiwara no Teika. A son of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū.
The foundation poem is by Izumi Shikibu in the Goshūishū: "Kurokami no / midare mo shirazu / uchifuseba / mazu kakiyarishi / hito zo koishiki." The foundation poem longs, from the woman's side, for the man who brushed her black hair aside; this poem answers it from the man's side.
The first line, "kakiyarishi," means "that I once brushed aside with my hand." It takes "mazu kakiyarishi," the fourth line of the foundation poem.
The second line, "sono kurokami no," refers to the black hair of the woman he once slept with. It takes "kurokami no," the first line of the foundation poem.
The third line, "suji goto ni," means "strand by strand." It says the image returns vividly down to each strand of hair.
The fourth line, "uchifusu hodo wa," means "whenever I lie down." It takes "uchifuseba," the third line of the foundation poem.
The last line, "omokage zo tatsu," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive "tatsu." From the dream sequence of the preceding poems, it moves here to an image that rises while awake, beginning the group of poems recalling a past love.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Teika
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Aware nari utatane ni nomi mishi yume no nagaki omoi ni musubohorenan
- Next Poem
-
Yume ka to yo mishi omokage mo chigirishi mo wasurezu nagara utsutsu naraneba