あな恋し今も見てしか山がつの
垣ほに咲ける大和なでしこ
垣ほに咲ける大和なでしこ
- Roma-ji
-
Ana koishi ima mo miteshika yamagatsu no kakio ni sakeru yamato nadeshiko
- English Translation
-
Ah, how I long for her!
Would that I could see her now—
by a mountain hut,
blooming at the hedge's foot,
a Yamato pink so dear.
- Meaning
- Ah, how I long for her! If only I could see her now—my dear one, like a Yamato pink blooming by the hedge of a mountain dweller's hut.
- Commentary
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Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 695
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Likening the beloved to a pink blooming by a mountain dweller's hedge, the poem cries out directly the wish to meet her right now. Making "nadeshiko" also mean "the child once caressed," it entrusts love for one once cherished to a delicate flower.
Following the sequence on waiting, the poem turns from waiting to a heart that longs to go and meet the beloved. The force of the exclamation "ana koishi" in the first line contrasts with the patience of the preceding sequence.
The first line, "ana koishi," means "ah, how I long," a strong exclamation joining the interjection "ana" to the stem of an adjective; the poem pauses here.
The second line, "ima mo miteshika," means "would that I could see her now," "teshika" being a particle of wishing; the poem pauses here as well.
The third line, "yamagatsu no," refers to a humble dweller in the mountains.
The fourth line, "kakio ni sakeru," means "blooming by the hedge," depicting a flower near at hand yet out of reach.
In the final line, "yamato nadeshiko," "nadeshiko" is a pivot word meaning both the pink flower and "nadeshi ko," the child once caressed; the line ends on a noun.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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