万代を祈りぞかくる木綿襷
春日の山の峰の嵐に
春日の山の峰の嵐に
- Roma-ji
-
Yorozuyo o inori zo kakuru yūdasuki Kasuga no yama no mine no arashi ni
- English Translation
-
For ten thousand ages
it is my prayer I hang with
this sacred bark cord,
on Kasuga Mountain's peak
in the gale that rages there.
- Meaning
- Praying for ten thousand ages, I hang this sacred cord of bark cloth, amid the gale that sweeps the peak of Mount Kasuga.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1895
Headnote: "Sent to Suō no Naishi when, serving as a Controller, he went down for the Kasuga Festival."
This is the first poem in the sequence on the Kasuga Shrine. Amid the gale on the peak of Mount Kasuga, the poet hangs a bark-cloth cord, praying for prosperity through ten thousand ages. According to the headnote, he sent it to Suō no Naishi when, as a Controller, he went down to Nara for the Kasuga Festival. It conveys to a friend in the capital the earnestness of his prayer as one serving at the festival.
The author, "Chūnagon Sukenaka," the Middle Counselor, is Fujiwara no Sukenaka. A son of Fujiwara no Sukehira, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor.
The Kasuga Festival of the Kasuga Shrine in Nara was held on the first Day of the Monkey in the second and eleventh months, and envoys were sent from the court. Suō no Naishi was a woman poet who served at court from the reign of Emperor Go-Reizei to that of Emperor Horikawa.
The first line, "yorozuyo o," means "for prosperity through ten thousand ages."
In the second line, "inori zo kakuru," "kakuru" is a pivot word joining "offering" a prayer and "hanging" a cord. The particle "zo" is closed by the attributive "kakuru" in kakari-musubi.
The third line, "yūdasuki," is the bark-cloth cord worn by those serving in sacred rites. The object of "kakuru" in the second line is placed afterward, an inversion. It resembles "yūdasuki" in poem 1870 of this book, both telling of the attire of those serving at festivals.
The fourth line, "Kasuga no yama no," is Mount Kasuga rising behind the Kasuga Shrine. From Kamo in the preceding poems, it moves to the shrine of Kasuga.
The last line, "mine no arashi ni," means "in the gale that sweeps the peak," showing prayer amid the cold season of the Kasuga Festival.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Sukenaka
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ishikawa no Semi no Ogawa no kiyokereba tsuki mo nagare o tazunete zo sumu
- Next Poem
-
Kyō matsuru kami no kokoro ya nabikuran shide ni nami tatsu Saho no kawakaze