むし衾なごやが下に伏せれども
妹とし寝ねば肌し寒しも
妹とし寝ねば肌し寒しも
- Roma-ji
-
Mushibusuma nagoya ga shita ni fuseredomo imo to shi neneba hada shi samushi mo
- English Translation
-
Under quilts of silk,
soft and warm, though I lie here
wrapped in all their folds,
since I do not sleep with you,
how cold, how cold my skin is
- Meaning
- Though I lie beneath soft, warm bedclothes, my skin is cold, for I do not sleep beside you.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Love Poems 524
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems sent by Lord Fujiwara, Master of the Capital Office, to Ōtomo no Iratsume"
Even wrapped in soft, warm bedclothes, the poet says, his skin is cold, for he does not sleep with her; he pleads the loneliness of sleeping apart from his love. Expressing solitude through bodily sensation, the frank statement carries an urgent feeling. It is the last of the three, leading on to Ōtomo no Iratsume's four poems in reply, which begin with the next poem.
The author, Fujiwara no Maro, was the fourth son of Fujiwara no Fuhito and founder of the Kyōke branch of the Fujiwara. Because he headed the Capital Office, the headnote calls him "Lord Fujiwara, Master of the Capital Office."
First line, "Under quilts of silk," names mushibusuma, soft bedclothes said to be made of ramie or the like, first establishing their warmth.
Second line, "soft and warm, though I lie here," uses nagoya, a word for something soft: beneath the soft coverlet.
Third line, "wrapped in all their folds," means though I lie down, domo being concessive.
Fourth line, "since I do not sleep with you," uses the emphatic shi: because I do not sleep with you.
Fifth line, "how cold, how cold my skin is," uses the emphatic shi and the exclamatory mo, closing on the contrast between warm covers and a cold heart.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Maro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Yoku wataru hito wa toshi ni mo ari to iu o itsu no ma ni zo mo aga koinikeru
- Next Poem
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Sahogawa no koishi fumiwatari nubatama no kuroma kuru yo wa toshi ni mo aranu ka