天の原踏みとどろかし鳴る神も
思ふ仲をば裂くるものかは
思ふ仲をば裂くるものかは
- Roma-ji
-
Ama no hara fumitodorokashi narukami mo omou naka oba sakuru mono ka wa
- English Translation
-
Across the high plain
of heaven stamping thunder,
even the god of storms—
could he tear apart two hearts
that love each other? Never.
- Meaning
- Even the thunder god who stamps and roars across the plains of heaven could never tear apart two people who love each other.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 701
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
A powerful vow of love, the poem declares that not even the might of the thunder god who stamps across the sky can split two people who love each other. Invoking the violence of nature in thunder, it hyperbolically expresses the strength of their bond.
Turning from the solitary anguish of the preceding poems, it sings of "omou naka," a bond of mutual love. From the next poem, 702, onward, gossip that obstructs the lovers becomes the theme, so that the flow moves to human talk threatening a bond not even the thunder god could break.
The first line, "ama no hara," is the wide expanse of the sky.
The second line, "fumitodorokashi," means "stamping and making it roar," seeing thunder as the sound of the god treading the heavens.
The third line, "narukami mo," refers to thunder, the particle "mo" giving "even the thunder god."
The fourth line, "omou naka oba," means "the bond of those who love each other," "oba" being the object marker "o" plus "wa," voiced, to emphasize the object.
The final line, "sakuru mono ka wa," means "could it tear it apart? Never," closing with the rhetorical "ka wa."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Kaku koimu mono to wa ware mo omoiniki kokoro no ura zo masashikarikeru
- Next Poem
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Azusayumi hikino no tsuzura sue tsui ni waga omou hito ni koto no shigekemu