白露の朝夕べにおく山の
苔の衣は風もさはらず
苔の衣は風もさはらず
- Roma-ji
-
Shiratsuyu no ashita yūbe ni okuyama no koke no koromo wa kaze mo sawarazu
- English Translation
-
Where the white dew falls
at morning and at evening,
in the mountain depths,
this mossy robe that I wear
cannot keep even the wind out.
- Meaning
- In the deep mountains where the white dew settles morning and evening, this mossy robe cannot keep out even the wind.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1627
Headnote: "In reply."
This is the second poem of the exchange on mossy robes and the reply to the preceding poem. The mossy robe of the deep mountains, where white dew settles morning and evening, cannot keep out even the wind, he says, conveying the dampness of mountain life.
The author, "Nyokaku," is the name Fujiwara no Takamitsu took after entering holy orders. A son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Morosuke, he was one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "shiratsuyu no," means "of the white dew." It begins by taking up the "dew" of the preceding poem.
The second line, "ashita yūbe ni," means "at morning and evening," showing that the dew settles without cease.
The third line, "okuyama no," pivots on "oku," both the dew "settling" and the "depths" of the mountain. It answers both "okuyama no" in the first line and "oki" in the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "koke no koromo wa," takes up directly "koke no koromo ni," the second line of the preceding poem.
The last line, "kaze mo sawarazu," means "does not keep out even the wind." Answering that the coarse robe neither shuts out the wind nor escapes the dew, he meets his uncle's tears with the dampness of mountain life.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Takamitsu
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Okuyama no koke no koromo ni kurabe miyo izure ka tsuyu no okimasaru tomo
- Next Poem
-
Yo no naka o somuki ni to te wa koshikadomo nao uki koto wa ōhara no sato