水茎の岡の屋形に妹とあれと
寝ての朝けの霜の降りはも
寝ての朝けの霜の降りはも
- Roma-ji
-
Mizuguki no oka no yakata ni imo to are to nete no asake no shimo no furi wa mo
- English Translation
-
On the Hill of Mizuguki,
in a lodge upon the rise,
my wife and I
slept, and at the dawn after,
oh, the frost, how it had fallen!
- Meaning
- My wife and I lay together in a lodge on the hill, and at dawn, how thickly the frost had fallen!
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Poems of the Bureau of Court Song 1072
Headnote: "Court Songs of the Bureau: A Mizuguki-buri Song"
After sleeping beside his wife in a hut on the hill, the singer wakes to find frost laid over everything. Mizuguki-buri is a folk song named for the Hill of Mizuguki, and this one frankly conveys the chill of the morning after a night together. No author is recorded.
The Ōutadokoro, or Bureau of Court Song, was the office that taught and preserved the ōuta, the songs performed at palace banquets and Shinto rites. Book Twenty of the Kokin Wakashū gathers such songs, arranged as court songs of the Bureau, songs of the kagura, and songs of the East.
The first line, "mizuguki no," is a pillow word for "hill."
The second line, "in a lodge on the hill," means a makeshift hut set up on the hilltop, naming where the couple slept.
The third line, "my wife and I," uses imo for a dear woman and are for oneself, setting the two side by side to show their closeness.
The fourth line, "at the dawn after sleeping," means the early morning after sleeping together. Repeated no particles drive on toward the last line.
The last line, "oh, the fall of the frost," uses wa mo for strong exclamation. Breaking off on a noun leaves the surprise of the cold morning hanging.
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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