言はむすべ為むすべ知らず極まりて
貴きものは酒にしあるらし
貴きものは酒にしあるらし
- Roma-ji
-
Iwamu sube semu sube shirazu kiwamarite tōtoki mono wa sake ni shi arurashi
- English Translation
-
Past all words to say,
past all ways of what to do,
to the very height,
the most precious thing of all,
it is wine, so it would seem.
- Meaning
- Beyond all words, beyond all doing, the most precious thing of all, it seems, is sake.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 342
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirteen poems in praise of sake by the Governor-General of Dazaifu, Lord Ōtomo"
This is the fifth of the thirteen poems in praise of sake by the Governor-General Lord Ōtomo. Precious beyond anything that can be said or done, the poem praises sake in the highest terms. Using the same last line as the third poem, it stresses again the worth of wine.
The thirteen poems in praise of sake form a sequence in which Tabito, at Dazaifu, extols wine as a way of rejecting worldly cleverness and consoling life's sorrows, drawing on Chinese precedents such as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. He served as Middle Counselor and Governor-General of Dazaifu before rising to Great Counselor, and died in Tenpyō 3 (731). Steeped in Chinese letters, he was at the center of a poetic circle with Yamanoue no Okura and others while serving in Tsukushi.
First line "Past all words to say": iwamu sube is a way of saying.
Second line "past all ways of what to do": repeating sube with the first line conveys utter helplessness.
Third line "to the very height": kiwamarite means to the utmost.
Fourth line "the most precious thing of all" names what is prized.
Fifth line "it is wine, so it would seem" is the same last line as in the third poem of the sequence.
- Author
- Ōtomo no Tabito
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Sakashimi to mono iu yori wa sake nomite einaki suru shi masaritarurashi
- Next Poem
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Nakanaka ni hito to arazu wa sakatsubo ni narinite shikamo sake ni shiminamu