久方の中に生ひたる里なれば
光をのみぞ頼むべらなる
光をのみぞ頼むべらなる
- Roma-ji
-
Hisakata no uchi ni oitaru sato nareba hikari o nomi zo tanomu beranaru
- English Translation
-
Since mine is a village
grown within the far-off moon,
sharing Katsura's name,
only on its radiance
do I place all my trust.
- Meaning
- Since I live in a village named for the katsura tree that grows within the moon, it seems I rely on nothing but the moon's light, that is, on Your Majesty's kindness.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 968
Headnote: "Presented in reply when the Shichijō Empress sent to ask after me while I was living at Katsura"
Living at the village of Katsura, the author presented this in reply to the Shichijō Empress, who had sent to ask after her. The Shichijō Empress is Fujiwara no Onshi, empress of Emperor Uda. Drawing on the Chinese legend that a katsura tree grows in the moon, she calls Katsura "a village grown within the moon," overlapping moonlight with the empress's favor, and says she relies on that alone.
By making a place name evoke the moon, the poem expresses gratitude to the empress with elegance, revealing affection for the mistress she had served.
The author is Ise, daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Governor of Ise. She served Onshi, empress of Emperor Uda, bore a son to Emperor Uda, and later bore the poet Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. She is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "the far-off," is hisakata no, a pillow word for "heaven," "moon" and "light," used here to mean the moon itself.
The second line, "grown within the moon," draws on the legend of a katsura tree in the moon to evoke the place name Katsura. The text writes naka, "inside," which the reading line glosses as uchi.
The third line, "since mine is a village," refers to Katsura.
The fourth line, "only on its radiance," overlaps moonlight with the empress's favor; zo governs the attributive ending of the last line.
The last line, "do I place all my trust," uses beranaru, the attributive of the conjectural beranari, completing the zo construction.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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