我が持てる三相に搓れる糸もちて
付けてましもの今ぞ悔しき
付けてましもの今ぞ悔しき
- Roma-ji
-
Waga moteru mitsuai ni yoreru ito mochite tsuketemashi mono ima zo kuyashiki
- English Translation
-
Of the thread I hold,
twisted strong in triple strands,
with that very thread
I should have sewn it on for you;
now indeed I feel regret
- Meaning
- I should have sewn your cord on with the thread I keep, twisted strong from three strands; now I truly regret it.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Love Poems 516
Headnote: "A poem by Abe no Iratsume in reply"
This answers Nakatomi no Azumahito, who lamented in the preceding poem that his cord had snapped. She makes a show of regret that she did not sew it on with her own strong, three-ply thread. Meeting his dread of an ill omen with the practical matter of sturdy thread, she shows a wit that seeks to ease his anxiety.
The author, Abe no Iratsume, was a woman poet of around the early Nara period, apparently of the Abe clan, though little else is known of her.
First line, "Of the thread I hold," means that which I have; ru is the attributive of the stative ri.
Second line, "twisted strong in triple strands," means three threads twisted together, a thread hard to break.
Third line, "with that very thread," means using that thread; answering the "cord" of the preceding poem with "thread," it binds the exchange with words of needlework.
Fourth line, "I should have sewn it on for you," uses mashi, the counterfactual auxiliary: I ought to have attached it. The poem breaks after this line.
Fifth line, "now indeed I feel regret," stresses "now" with zo and closes in the attributive kuyashiki, lamenting what she failed to do.
- Author
- Lady Abe
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Hitori nete taenishi himo o yuyushimi to semu sube shira ni ne nomi shi zo naku
- Next Poem
-
Kamuki ni mo te wa furu to iu o utsutae ni hitozuma to ieba furenu mono kamo