いにしへに梁打つ人のなかりせば
ここにもあらまし柘の枝はも
ここにもあらまし柘の枝はも
- Roma-ji
-
Inishie ni yana utsu hito no nakariseba koko ni mo aramashi tsumi no e wa mo
- English Translation
-
If in days of old
there had been no man to set
the weir in the stream,
it would still be here with us—
ah, the branch of tsumi!
- Meaning
- Had there been no one long ago to set a fish weir, the tsumi branch would still be here with us—ah, that tsumi branch!
- Commentary
-
Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 387
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems on the immortal of the tsumi branch"
This is the third of the three poems on the immortal of the tsumi branch. If Umashine had not set his weir and caught the branch long ago, it would still be here—a fond longing for the legendary maiden. Where the preceding poem put himself in the story for a witticism, this one looks back on the legend itself and yearns for a lost wonder. The left note says it was composed by Wakamiya no Ayumaro.
The three poems on the immortal of the tsumi branch relate to the legend of Umashine, a fisherman of Yoshino, who picked up a branch of tsumi floating down the river; it turned into a beautiful immortal maiden, and the two became husband and wife.
The poet, Wakamiya no Ayumaro, lived in the Nara period, but little is known of him.
First line "If in days of old" refers to the time of the legend.
Second line "there had been no man to set": the man who set the weir is Umashine of the legend, answering "having set no weir" in the preceding poem.
Third line "the weir in the stream": nakariseba is a counterfactual condition.
Fourth line "it would still be here with us": mashi is counterfactual.
Fifth line "ah, the branch of tsumi": wa mo is a sigh of longing; inversion places the branch last, ending in yearning for the lost legend.
- Author
- Wakamiya no Ayumaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Kono yūbe tsumi no saeda no nagarekoba yana wa utazute torazu ka mo aramu
- Next Poem
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Shimazutai Minume no saki o kogimireba Yamato kōshiku tazu sawa ni naku