いにしへのしづのをだまきいやしきも
よきも盛りはありしものなり
よきも盛りはありしものなり
- Roma-ji
-
Inishie no shizu no odamaki iyashiki mo yoki mo sakari wa arishi mono nari
- English Translation
-
Like the spools of thread
for the humble weave of old,
the lowly ones
and the fine alike once knew
a season in their bloom.
- Meaning
- Like the spools of thread for the humble cloth of old, both the lowly and the noble once had their time of glory.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 888
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Using the spool of thread for shizu, an ancient cloth, as an introduction, the poem says that people of every station had their time of glory. Looking back on a now-faded self, it fondly recalls that everyone once had a brilliant season. The author is unknown.
First line "inishie no" repeats the opening of the preceding poem, 887, carrying on the longing for the past.
Second line "shizu no odamaki": shizu is a pivot word joining the ancient cloth shizu and "lowly." Odamaki is spun thread wound into a ball; the first two lines form a preface.
Third line "iyashiki mo" takes up the shizu of the second line: the lowly too.
Fourth line "yoki mo sakari wa" means the noble too had their prime; "lowly" and "noble" form a pair.
Fifth line "arishi mono nari" with the past shi and the assertive nari declares that such a prime surely existed.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Inishie no nonaka no shimizu nurukeredo moto no kokoro o shiru hito zo kumu
- Next Poem
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Ima koso are ware mo mukashi wa otokoyama sakayuku toki mo arikoshi mono o