石上ふるから小野の本柏
本の心は忘られなくに
本の心は忘られなくに
- Roma-ji
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Isonokami furukara ono no motogashiwa moto no kokoro wa wasurarenaku ni
- English Translation
-
In Isonokami,
in the old field of Furu,
the ancient oak—
like its root, the heart of old
is something I cannot forget.
- Meaning
- Like the old oak of the old fields of Furu in Isonokami, which keeps its leaves from long ago, the heart I had long ago is something I cannot forget.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 886
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Using the old oak in the fields of Furu at Isonokami as an introduction, the poem says the heart of old cannot be forgotten. The unchanged feeling of long ago is laid over the oak that keeps its old leaves through winter. The author is unknown.
In this book, poems cherishing the past and the heart of old continue from here through 888, introducing the group on old age that follows.
First line "isonokami" is a pillow word for furu.
Second line "furukara ono no": furu is a pivot word joining the place name Furu and "old," giving "the old field of Furu in Isonokami."
Third line "motogashiwa" is an oak whose old leaves remain through winter, a symbol of what does not change. The upper verses as a whole form a preface leading to moto.
Fourth line "moto no kokoro wa" repeats the moto of the third line by sound, showing the heart of long ago. The fourth line of the next poem, 887, is also "moto no kokoro o," linking the two by the same phrase.
Fifth line "wasurarenaku ni" joins the potential re with the nominalized negative naku and ni, closing with feeling: it cannot be forgotten.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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