君に恋ひいたもすべなみ葦鶴の
哭のみし泣かゆ朝夕にして
哭のみし泣かゆ朝夕にして
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ni koi ita mo sube nami ashitazu no ne nomi shi nakayu asayoi ni shite
- English Translation
-
Longing for my lord,
helpless, knowing nothing to do,
like the reedland crane,
I can only weep aloud,
from the morning till the night.
- Meaning
- Longing for my lord and at a loss what to do, I can only cry aloud like the cranes among the reeds, morning and evening.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Elegies 456
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems on the death of the Great Counselor Lord Ōtomo in the seventh month of autumn, Tenpyō 3, the year kanoto-hitsuji"
This is the third of the six poems mourning Ōtomo no Tabito. Longing for his lord and utterly helpless, he can only weep aloud morning and evening like the cranes crying among the reeds—unceasing grief. His own weeping is overlaid with the cry of the cranes.
The six poems on the death of the Great Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito in the seventh month of autumn in Tenpyō 3 (731) form a sequence grieving the loss of a master. The left note to the fifth says these five were composed by the attendant Yo no Myōgun, who could not bear his devotion to his lord and was deeply moved in his heart.
The poet, Yo no Myōgun, is thought to have been a descendant of immigrants from Paekche, and served Ōtomo no Tabito as his attendant.
First line "Longing for my lord" means yearning for his master.
Second line "helpless, knowing nothing to do": ita mo means "utterly" and sube nami "having no means."
Third line "like the reedland crane": ashitazu are cranes among the reeds; their loud cries lead to ne, "weeping aloud."
Fourth line "I can only weep aloud": ne is audible weeping, and yu expresses spontaneity.
Fifth line "from the morning till the night" shows by inversion that his grief never ceases.
- Author
- Yo no Myōgun
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Kaku nomi ni arikeru mono o hagi no hana sakite ari ya to toishi kimi wa mo
- Next Poem
-
Tōnagaku tsukaemu mono to omoerishi kimi shi masaneba kokorodo mo nashi