たまきはる宇智の大野に馬並めて
朝踏ますらむその草深野
朝踏ますらむその草深野
- Roma-ji
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Tamakiharu uchi no ōno ni uma namete asa fumasu ramu sono kusafukano
- English Translation
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Where the soul runs deep,
on the great plain of Uchi,
with horses abreast,
they must tread this very morn
that meadow deep in grasses.
- Meaning
- On the broad plain of Uchi, horses ranged side by side, he must be riding out this very morning across that meadow thick with grass.
- Commentary
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Book One Miscellaneous Poems 4
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem presented by Nakatsu-sumeramikoto through Hashihito no Muraji Oyu when the Emperor went hunting on the plain of Uchi — envoy"
An envoy imagining, from the palace left behind, the Emperor (Jomei) and his party treading the great plain of Uchi on horseback in the morning. Where the long poem sensed the hunt's departure from the twang of the bow's notch, the envoy moves its gaze to the hunting ground itself, picturing the riders pressing through dew-wet, deep grasses. The headnote shows that Nakatsu-sumeramikoto had the poem presented to the Emperor through Hashihito no Muraji Oyu. Its strong cadence, closing on the noun phrase "that meadow deep in grasses," is highly regarded as among the most dignified of the early Man'yōshū poems.
Nakatsu-sumeramikoto is a title whose bearer has never been settled. The leading view identifies her as Princess Hashihito, daughter of Emperor Jomei and later consort of Emperor Kōtoku; another holds that she was Jomei's consort, later Empress Kōgyoku. The title is understood to mean a noble woman who mediates between sovereign and gods, or an interim sovereign. Some believe the poem was actually composed by the messenger, Hashihito no Oyu.
The first line, tamakiharu, is a pillow word for words such as "life" and "within," here leading to the homophonous place name Uchi. Its origin is disputed, but it may mean "where the soul reaches its fullness," and it opens the hunting ground on a solemn note.
The second line, "on the great plain of Uchi," refers to the fields of Uchi District in Yamato, around present-day Gojō in Nara Prefecture. "Great plain" stresses the breadth of the hunting ground, and the particle ni marks the place of the treading in the fourth line.
The third line, "with horses abreast," conveys the splendor of an imperial hunt with many attendants riding side by side. Poem 49 in this book also has the phrase "with horses abreast," and the two echo each other as poems of a prince setting out to hunt.
In the fourth line, fumasu is the verb "to tread" with the honorific su, showing respect for the Emperor. The auxiliary ramu imagines a scene out of sight—"he must be doing so right now"—and the poem pauses here.
The closing line, "that meadow deep in grasses," uses "that" to point back to the plain of Uchi and ends on a noun. By naming the meadow once more at the end, almost as an inversion, it leaves a vivid picture of a vast, dew-soaked grassland.
- Author
- Nakatsu-sumeramikoto
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Yamagoshi no kaze o tokijimi nuru yo ochizu ie naru imo o kakete shinoitsu