唐衣なれば身にこそまつはれめ
かけてのみやは恋ひむと思ひし
かけてのみやは恋ひむと思ひし
- Roma-ji
-
Karakoromo nareba mi ni koso matsuware me kakete nomi ya wa koimu to omoishi
- English Translation
-
A Chinese robe,
once well worn, will cling so close
about the body;
did I think that I would only
love you as a robe hung up?
- Meaning
- A fine robe, once worn soft, clings close to the body, and so I thought that growing close would bring us together. I never imagined I would only love you from afar, like a robe left hanging on its rack.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 786
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
As a robe clings to the body the more it is worn, the speaker thought growing intimate would make them one, yet he is left only longing from afar. Associated words for clothing are strung together, and the pivot words nare and kake layer the image of the robe with the course of love.
The author, "Kagenori no Ōkimi," is Prince Kagenori. He was a son of Prince Koreeda, Governor-General of Kazusa, and a grandson of Emperor Montoku. In 897 he was directly granted the junior fourth rank, lower grade, as a second-generation prince.
The first line names a fine robe, the center from which the associated clothing words flow.
In the second line nare means both a robe worn soft and people growing intimate. The particle koso is resolved by the perfective in the third line.
In the third line matsuwaru means to cling, and me, the perfective of mu, resolves koso, becoming concessive: it would cling to me, and yet. The poem breaks here.
In the fourth line kake means both hanging a robe on a rack and keeping someone in mind, and ya wa is rhetorical: did I think I would only long for you?
In the last line shi, attributive of the past ki, resolves ya wa. It is a lament for a love heading toward its end unfulfilled.
- Author
- Prince Kagenori
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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