いにしへに恋ふる鳥かも弓絃葉の
御井の上より鳴き渡り行く
御井の上より鳴き渡り行く
- Roma-ji
-
Inishie ni kouru tori kamo yuzuruha no mii no ue yori naki watari yuku
- English Translation
-
Is it a bird
that yearns for the days of old?
Over the sacred well
where the yuzuruha grows,
it goes, crying as it flies.
- Meaning
- Could it be a bird that longs for days gone by? Crying, it flies on over the sacred spring where the yuzuruha trees grow.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Love Poems 111
Headnote: "A poem sent by Prince Yuge to Princess Nukata at the time of an imperial excursion to the Yoshino Palace"
At the Yoshino Palace, hearing a bird crying as it flies over the spring, he senses in it a longing for the past and sends that feeling to Princess Nukata.
According to the headnote, Prince Yuge sent this to Princess Nukata, who had remained in Yamato, during an excursion by Empress Jitō to Yoshino. In Yoshino, a place bound up with his father Emperor Tenmu, he entrusts his longing for bygone days to Nukata, who had known Tenmu's age.
The author, Prince Yuge, was a son of Emperor Tenmu; his mother was Princess Ōe, a daughter of Emperor Tenji. He was the full younger brother of Prince Naga.
The first line, "inishie ni," means "for the past," suggesting the days when Emperor Tenmu was alive. The next poem, 112, answers with the same first line.
In the second line, "kouru tori kamo," kamo is an exclamation with a question: could it be a bird that yearns for the past? The poem pauses here.
The third line, "yuzuruha no," means "of the yuzuruha trees" and modifies the well that follows.
In the fourth line, "mii no ue yori," mii is the pure spring of the Yoshino Palace, and yori marks the place passed over.
The final line, "naki watari yuku," means flying across the sky while crying, ending on a scene in motion.
- Author
- Prince Yuge
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Ōnako o ochikatanobe ni karu kaya no tsuka no aida mo ware wasureme ya
- Next Poem
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Inishie ni kouramu tori wa hototogisu kedashi ya nakishi aga moeru goto