飛ぶ鳥の声も聞こえぬ奥山の
深き心を人は知らなむ
深き心を人は知らなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Tobu tori no koe mo kikoenu okuyama no fukaki kokoro o hito wa shiranamu
- English Translation
-
Where no voice is heard
not even of birds in flight
deep within the hills
may the one I love come to know
a heart as deep as these
- Meaning
- Like the deep mountains where not even the calls of flying birds can be heard, my heart is deep, and I wish the one I love would come to know it.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Love Poems I 535
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem likens the depth of the poet's love to remote mountains so deep that not even birdsong reaches there. The hushed scene of the mountain depths symbolizes both the depth and the loneliness of feelings kept hidden from all. The simple wish that at least the beloved might know that deep heart is quietly expressed.
First line, "Where no voice is heard": tobu tori no means of birds flying in the sky.
Second line, "not even of birds in flight": koe mo kikoenu means where not even their cries can be heard, showing a stillness far from human dwellings.
Third line, "deep within the hills": okuyama is a deep, remote mountain, and lines one through three form a preface leading to fukaki in the fourth line. Poem 551, which closes this book, also begins with "okuyama no."
Fourth line, "may the one I love come to know": fukaki kokoro wo, a deep heart, overlays the depth of the mountains with the depth of love. Poem 538 of this book uses the same phrase, lamenting that no one knows the depth of that love.
Fifth line, "a heart as deep as these": namu is a final particle expressing a wish toward another, meaning "I wish that person would know."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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