君てへば見まれ見ずまれ富士の嶺の
めづらしげなく燃ゆる我が恋
めづらしげなく燃ゆる我が恋
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi tēba mimare mizumare fuji no ne no mezurashige naku moyuru waga koi
- English Translation
-
When it comes to you,
whether I see you or not,
like Fuji's high peak,
with nothing new about it,
ever burns this love of mine.
- Meaning
- Where you are concerned, whether we meet or not, my love burns on like the smoke of Mount Fuji—so constant that there is nothing new in it at all.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 680
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem likens a love that burns on unchanged, whether the lovers meet or not, to the smoke rising from Mount Fuji. Fuji was still smoking in those days, and its never-dying fire was used in waka as a symbol of burning love.
Taking up the word "miru" (to see, to meet) that runs from the head poem, 677, the poem views it from both sides with "mimare mizumare," meeting and not meeting, to show a love that lasts regardless of whether the lovers meet.
The author, written in kana as "Fujiwara no Tadayuki," is Fujiwara no Tadayuki, an official of the early Heian period whose life is not well documented.
In the first line, "kimi tēba," "tēba" is a contraction of "to ieba," giving "when it comes to you."
The second line, "mimare mizumare," is a contraction of "mi mo are mizu mo are," meaning "whether I see you or not."
The third line, "fuji no ne no," points to Mount Fuji with its ceaseless smoke, a comparison that leads to "moyuru" (burning) in the last line.
The fourth line, "mezurashige naku," means "with nothing new about it," expressing that the love goes on without end.
The final line, "moyuru waga koi," overlays the fire of Fuji with the fire of love and ends on the noun "koi" (love), a noun-ending.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Tadayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Isonokami furu no nakamichi nakanaka ni mizu wa koishi to omowamashi ya wa
- Next Poem
-
Yume ni dani miyu to wa mieji asana asana waga omokage ni hazuru mi nareba