陸奥の真野の草原遠けども
面影にして見ゆといふものを
面影にして見ゆといふものを
- Roma-ji
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Michinoku no Mano no kayahara tōkedomo omokage ni shite miyu to iu mono o
- English Translation
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In far Michinoku,
the grassy plain of Mano,
though so far away,
as a vision in the mind
is seen, they say—yet you...
- Meaning
- The grassy plain of Mano in far Michinoku, though so distant, can be seen as a vision in the mind, they say—yet you I cannot see.
- Commentary
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Book Three Allegorical Poems 396
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems sent by Lady Kasa to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
This poem belongs to the section of Allegorical Poems in Book Three. It is the second of the three poems Lady Kasa sent to Yakamochi. Even the grassy plain of Mano in faraway Michinoku, it is said, can be seen in the mind's eye—yet she cannot meet him though he should be near, and even his image is uncertain. She protests the pain of a love that cannot meet. Citing a distant place name sharpens the sense of emotional distance. Mano is thought to be near present-day Minamisōma, Fukushima.
Lady Kasa's three poems sent to Ōtomo no Yakamochi form a sequence expressing her love through plants—the gromwell, the grassy plain, and the sedge.
The poet, Lady Kasa, was a woman poet of the Nara period known for sending love poems to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, for whom she felt deep affection.
First line "In far Michinoku": Michinoku, the old name for the northeast, stood for the land most remote from the capital.
Second line "the grassy plain of Mano" is a field of grass at Mano in Michinoku.
Third line "though so far away": domo is concessive.
Fourth line "as a vision in the mind": omokage is an image rising in the mind.
Fifth line "is seen, they say—yet you": mono o carries her reproach that he, near at hand, cannot be seen.
- Author
- Lady Kasa
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Okuyama no iwamotosuge o ne fukamete musubishi kokoro wasurekanetsu mo