思ひ出づや美濃の小山の一つ松
契りしことはいつも忘れず
契りしことはいつも忘れず
- Roma-ji
-
Omoiizu ya Mino no oyama no hitotsumatsu chigirishi koto wa itsu mo wasurezu
- English Translation
-
Do you remember?
On the little hill of Mino
the lone pine stands;
what we pledged to one another
I will never once forget
- Meaning
- Do you remember? Like the lone pine on the little hill of Mino, what we pledged I never once forget.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1408
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the third poem of the sequence on broken vows. Like the lone pine on the little hill of Mino, she says, she never forgets what they pledged, and asks whether he remembers. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Ise," was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Governor of Ise. She served Onshi, empress of Emperor Uda, and was called Ise after her father's office.
The little hill of Mino is a poetic site in Mino Province, sung together with a single pine. The pine, ever green, is a symbol of an unchanging heart.
The first line, "omoiizu ya," means "do you remember?", a question to the other. The poem breaks after the first line.
The second line, "Mino no oyama no," names the poetic site.
The third line, "hitotsumatsu," refers to a pine standing alone. The evergreen pine is overlaid with an unchanging vow. "Hitotsu" (one) also suggests a heart pledged to one person alone.
The fourth line, "chigirishi koto wa," means "what we pledged." Taking up "omoi na tae so" of the preceding poem, it shows a vow kept unbroken.
The last line, "itsu mo wasurezu," means "I never forget." The first line asks whether he remembers, and the last line declares that she does not forget, setting the one who forgets against the one who does not.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ima wa tomo omoi na tae so nonaka naru mizu no nagare wa yukite tazunen
- Next Poem
-
Idete inishi ato dani imada kawaranu ni ta ga kayoiji to ima wa naruran