思ひ出づるときはの山の岩つつじ
いはねばこそあれ恋しきものを
いはねばこそあれ恋しきものを
- Roma-ji
-
Omoiizuru tokiwa no yama no iwatsutsuji iwaneba koso are koishiki mono o
- English Translation
-
Whenever I recall
on the mountain of Tokiwa
azaleas on the rocks
it is only that I do not say
how much I long for you
- Meaning
- Whenever I think of you, like the rock azaleas on Mount Tokiwa, I do not speak of it, but oh, how I long for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 495
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
A poem of hidden love: it is only that the poet does not speak, while inwardly the longing is unbearable. The rock azaleas of Mount Tokiwa serve as a preface, and iwa, rock, leads through sound to iwa, to speak, expressing the secret feeling. In the crimson of the azaleas one can also sense the passion of a love that cannot be shown.
First line, "Whenever I recall": omoiizuru, remembering, leads into toki in the second line.
Second line, "on the mountain of Tokiwa": tokiwa is a pivot word meaning both "the time when" I remember and the mountain name Tokiwa. Mount Tokiwa is regarded as a poetic place in Yamashiro.
Third line, "azaleas on the rocks": iwatsutsuji, azaleas among the rocks, leads through repeated sound to iwaneba in the fourth line; lines one through three form a preface.
Fourth line, "it is only that I do not say": iwaneba koso are means "it stays unknown only because I do not say it." Koso forms a kakari-musubi with are and continues adversatively. Poem 537 of this book uses the same device, leading from "rock spring" to "without saying."
Fifth line, "how much I long for you": mono wo is an adversative exclamatory particle, meaning "though in truth I long for you."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Yama takami shita yuku mizu no shita ni nomi nagarete koimu koi wa shinu to mo
- Next Poem
-
Hito shirezu omoeba kurushi kurenai no suetsumuhana no iro ni idenamu