逢坂の木綿付け鳥もわがごとく
人や恋しき音のみ泣くらむ
人や恋しき音のみ泣くらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Ōsaka no yūtsukedori mo waga gotoku hito ya koishiki ne nomi nakuramu
- English Translation
-
At Osaka's gate
the cock with its cotton cord
is it, just like me
yearning for someone it loves
that it only cries aloud
- Meaning
- Is the barrier cock of Osaka, like me, longing for someone, that it does nothing but cry aloud?
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 536
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem addresses the cock crowing at the Osaka Barrier, overlaying it with the poet weeping from longing. Yutsukedori, "bird bearing bark-cloth," is a name for the rooster derived from the custom of releasing cocks with bark-cloth tied to them at the Osaka Barrier and other barriers in the four directions as a purification when the realm was in disorder. To the bird crying at Osaka, whose name echoes "meeting," the poet entrusts the lament of a love that cannot meet.
First line, "At Osaka's gate": a poetic place in Omi whose name echoes au, to meet. Poem 473 of this book also sings of Osaka, and the next poem, 537, begins with the same first line, the two placed side by side.
Second line, "the cock with its cotton cord": yutsukedori is another name for the rooster.
Third line, "is it, just like me": waga gotoku, like me, projects the poet's heart onto the bird. Like waga goto ya in poem 499 of this book, it overlays a bird's voice with the lover.
Fourth line, "yearning for someone it loves": hito ya koishiki means "does it long for someone?", with ya forming a kakari-musubi with the attributive koishiki.
Fifth line, "that it only cries aloud": ne nomi nakuramu means "it seems to cry aloud and nothing else," overlaying a bird's crowing with human weeping. It is close to ne wo nomi zo naku in poem 514 of this book.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tobu tori no koe mo kikoenu okuyama no fukaki kokoro o hito wa shiranamu
- Next Poem
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Ōsaka no seki ni nagaruru iwashimizu iwade kokoro ni omoi koso sure