冬川の上は凍れる我なれや
下に流れて恋ひわたるらむ
下に流れて恋ひわたるらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Fuyukawa no ue wa kooreru ware nare ya shita ni nagarete koiwataruramu
- English Translation
-
Am I like a winter
river frozen over on
its surface, so that
beneath it flows my love
that goes on without end?
- Meaning
- Am I a winter river, frozen only on the surface? Is that why, flowing underneath, I go on loving you in secret?
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems II 591
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet likens himself to a winter river frozen only on its surface and says that, without showing it, he goes on loving within, like water flowing beneath the ice. The contrast between outward calm and the intensity of hidden love is skillfully expressed through the image of the winter river.
Muneoka no Ōyori was an official of the early Heian period, and no detailed record of his career has come down to us.
First line, "fuyukawa no": a winter river, sung of as frozen on its surface while water flows beneath. Poem 573 of this book sings of a river of tears that does not freeze even in winter, so the two poems form a contrast around the winter river.
Second line, "ue wa kooreru": ru is the attributive of the continuative auxiliary ri, "the surface is frozen." It overlays the poet's outward show of calm.
Third line, "ware nare ya": nare ya is the perfective form of the copula nari with the interrogative ya, "is it because I am ...?" Ya pairs with ramu in the final line. The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "shita ni nagarete": shita overlays "beneath the ice" and "within the heart." Like "shita ni nagarure" in 581 of this book, it likens a hidden love to flowing water.
Fifth line, "koiwataruramu": koiwataru means to go on loving, and ramu conjectures a cause, taking the attributive form as the resolution of ya.
- Author
- Muneoka no Ōyori
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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