いつとなきをぐらの山の陰を見て
暮れぬと人の急ぐなるかな
暮れぬと人の急ぐなるかな
- Roma-ji
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Itsu to naki ogura no yama no kage o mite kurenu to hito no isogu naru kana
- English Translation
-
Always dim it is,
Ogura, the mountain "dusk"—
seeing its shadow,
"Night has come," and so it seems
my visitors hurry off.
- Meaning
- Seeing the shadow of Mount Ogura, always dim whatever the hour, people seem to think night has fallen and hurry to leave.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1645
Headnote: "When I was living at Hōrinji, people came to worship and hurried to leave, saying night had fallen."
This is the first poem of a sequence on the mountains of Saga. Seeing the shadow of Mount Ogura, dim at every hour, people seem to think night has fallen and hurry home. According to the headnote, it was composed while he lived at Hōrinji, when visitors who had come to worship hurried away, saying it had grown dark.
The author, "Dōmyō Hōshi," was a son of Fujiwara no Michitsuna and served as superintendent of Tennōji. Known as a monk with a fine voice for chanting sutras, he was one of the Thirty-Six Later Poetic Immortals.
Hōrinji is a temple at Saga in Yamashiro Province, on the bank of the Ōi River. Mount Ogura faces it to the north across the river and is famed for its autumn leaves.
The first line, "itsu to naki," means "at no particular time," that is, alike by day and night.
The second line, "ogura no yama no," pivots on "ogura," both "ogurashi," "dim," and the place name Mount Ogura.
The third line, "kage o mite," means "seeing the mountain's shadow," mistaking the gloom of the mountain for nightfall.
The fourth line, "kurenu to hito no," means "the people, saying night has fallen."
The last line, "isogu naru kana," means "they seem to be hurrying." "Naru" is the attributive form of the inferential "nari," closed by the exclamation "kana." Playing on the darkness in the mountain's name, it lightly expresses regret at the guests' early leaving.
- Author
- Dōmyō
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kazashi oru miwa no shigeyama kakiwakete aware to zo omou sugi tateru kado
- Next Poem
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Saga no yama chiyo no furumichi ato tomete mata tsuyu wakuru mochizuki no koma