いざ子ども早く日本へ大伴の
御津の浜松待ち恋ひぬらむ
御津の浜松待ち恋ひぬらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Iza kodomo hayaku yamato e ōtomo no mitsu no hamamatsu machikoinu ramu
- English Translation
-
Come now, my comrades,
quickly back to Yamato!
At Ōtomo's
Mitsu shore the pines must wait,
pining long for our return.
- Meaning
- Come, my friends, let us hurry home to Japan! The pines on the shore of Mitsu in Ōtomo must be waiting and longing for us.
- Commentary
-
Book One Miscellaneous Poems 63
Headnote: "A poem composed by Yamanoue no Omi Okura, thinking of his homeland while in Great Tang"
Staying in Tang China as a member of the embassy, Yamanoue no Okura thinks of home and calls to his companions: come, let us hurry back—the pines on the shore of Mitsu at Naniwa must be longing for our return. With a light play on matsu, "pine" and "wait," it sings of homesickness brightly and powerfully. It is thought to date from the time when the embassy that left in 702 was preparing to return.
Yamanoue no Okura went to Tang China in 702 as a junior secretary of the embassy. After his return he served as governor of Hōki and of Chikuzen, and he is known for a distinctive style that looks hard at human life and society, as in his Dialogue on Poverty and his poems of love for children.
In the first line, iza is a word of invitation and kodomo a familiar address to subordinates or companions: "come now, my comrades."
The second line, "quickly to Japan," urges the return while omitting the verb. It is an expression conscious of the name "Nippon" while abroad in Tang. The poem breaks here.
The third line, Ōtomo no, is an old name for the Naniwa area, qualifying Mitsu, said to derive from the Ōtomo clan's rule there.
The fourth line names the pines on the shore of Mitsu, Naniwa's harbor, from which the envoys' ships sailed and to which they returned. Matsu ("pine") puns on matsu ("to wait"). Poem 68 in this book also mentions "the shore of Mitsu in Ōtomo," sharing the place name.
In the last line, nu is perfective and ramu present conjecture: "they must be waiting and longing." Personifying the shore pines, it makes the whole homeland seem to await their return.
- Author
- Yamanoue no Okura
- Source
- Manyoshu
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