大荒木の森の下草老いぬれば
駒もすさめず刈る人もなし
駒もすさめず刈る人もなし
- Roma-ji
-
Ōaraki no mori no shitakusa oinureba koma mo susamezu karu hito mo nashi
- English Translation
-
In Ōaraki's wood
the grasses beneath the trees
have grown old,
so the horses scorn to graze
and no one comes to cut them.
- Meaning
- The undergrowth in the Ōaraki woods has grown old, so even horses do not care to eat it, and no one comes to cut it.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 892
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The undergrowth of the Ōaraki woods has grown tall and tough, so horses do not eat it and no one cuts it: a figure for one grown old and no longer regarded by others. The author is unknown.
A left note says, "Or: sakura asa no ofu no shitakusa oinureba," a variant with the upper verses "the undergrowth of the hemp field, grown old."
The fourth line of the main text reads "koma mo susamezu," which does not match "koma mo susaezu" in the reading line. Here the main text is followed.
First line "ōaraki no" is the Ōaraki woods in Yamashiro, a poetic place; the line is hypermetric.
Second line "mori no shitakusa" is the grass growing under the trees, suggesting one unseen by others.
Third line "oinureba" joins the perfective nu and ba: because it has grown old. Grass grown tough is laid over human aging.
Fourth line "koma mo susamezu": susamu means to favor or relish, so not even horses pay it heed.
Fifth line "karu hito mo nashi" repeats mo, "horses too, people too," deepening the loneliness of being ignored by all.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Sasa no ha ni furitsumu yuki no ure o omomi moto kutachiyuku waga sakari wa mo
- Next Poem
-
Kazoureba tomaranu mono o toshi to iite kotoshi wa itaku oi zo shinikeru