霜八度置けど枯れせぬ榊葉の
たち栄ゆべき神の巫覡かも
たち栄ゆべき神の巫覡かも
- Roma-ji
-
Shimo yatabi okedo karesenu sakakiba no tachisakayu beki kami no kine kamo
- English Translation
-
Though frost eight times
settles, never withering,
like the sakaki leaves,
surely to flourish ever more:
the servant of the gods, ah!
- Meaning
- Like the sakaki leaves that frost after frost cannot wither, the one who serves the gods is surely bound to flourish ever more.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Poems of the Bureau of Court Song 1075
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Kagura Songs: Torimono Song"
Invoking the evergreen sakaki that no frost can wither, the song blesses those who serve the gods, wishing them lasting prosperity. The sakaki's constant green is made a sign of permanence and flourishing, a blessing on those who perform the kagura. No author is recorded.
Torimono songs are kagura songs sung on the hand-held objects that dancers carried in the sacred dance, such as sakaki branches, bows, ladles and vines. Poems 1074 through 1079 form this group of six.
The first line, "though frost eight times," means frost time and again, eight standing for many.
The second line, "settles, never withering," means that though frost lies on it, it does not wither; do marks the concession.
The upper lines through the third, "like the sakaki leaves," form a figure leading to "flourish." They take up "the sakaki leaves" of the preceding poem, 1074, so two sakaki songs stand together.
The fourth line, "surely to flourish ever more," uses the prefix tachi and beki, a confident conjecture.
The last line, "the servant of the gods," ends with kamo, an exclamation.
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kamigaki no mimuro no yama no sakakiba wa kami no mimae ni shigeriai ni keri
- Next Poem
-
Makimoku no anashi no yama no yamabito to hito mo miru gani yamakazura seyo