天の原振り放け見れば白真弓
張りて懸けたり夜道はよけむ
張りて懸けたり夜道はよけむ
- Roma-ji
-
Ama no hara furisake mireba shiramayumi harite kaketari yomichi wa yokemu
- English Translation
-
In the plain of heaven,
as I lift my eyes and gaze,
a white spindle bow
strung and hung up in the sky—
the night road will be bright.
- Meaning
- Looking up into the wide sky, I see the crescent moon hung there like a strung bow of white wood—the road tonight will be easy to walk.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 289
Headnote: "Two poems on the new moon by Hashihito no Sukune Ōura"
The poem likens the crescent hanging in the night sky to a bow of white wood, strung and hung up. It is a vivid figure capturing the moon's bow-shaped form, and the poet rejoices that with moonlight the night road will be easy to walk. Some read into it the thought of visiting a lover along that road.
The poet, Hashihito no Ōura, was an official of the Nara period, but little is known of him.
First line "In the plain of heaven" means the wide sky.
Second line "as I lift my eyes and gaze": furisaku means to look up into the distance.
Third line "a white spindle bow": shiramayumi is a bow of white spindle-tree wood, likened to the crescent's shape and color.
Fourth line "strung and hung up in the sky" completes the figure of the moon as a bow; the sentence breaks here.
Fifth line "the night road will be bright": mu is conjectural, ending in delight at the moonlight.
- Author
- Hashihito no Ōura
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Waga inochi no masakiku araba mata mo mimu Shiga no Ōtsu ni yosuru shiranami
- Next Poem
-
Kurahashi no yama o takami ka yogomori ni idekuru tsuki no hikari tomoshiki