恋草を力車に七車
積みて恋ふらく我が心から
積みて恋ふらく我が心から
- Roma-ji
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Koigusa o chikaraguruma ni nanakuruma tsumite kouraku waga kokoro kara
- English Translation
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Grasses of my love,
on the carts that carry loads,
seven carts piled high;
that I long so much, it comes
from no one but my own heart
- Meaning
- That I long so much, enough to pile seven carts high with the grasses of love, comes from nothing but my own heart.
- Commentary
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Book Four Love Poems 694
Headnote: "Two poems by Princess Hirokawa, granddaughter of Prince Hozumi and daughter of Prince Kamitsumichi"
Likening her love to grass, she says that she longs enough to pile seven carts with it, and that it all comes from her own heart. The strange image of measuring love in cartloads of grass is striking, and she regards her love half in self-mockery.
The author, Princess Hirokawa, was according to the headnote's note a granddaughter of Prince Hozumi and daughter of Prince Kamitsumichi.
First line, "Grasses of my love," names koigusa, love likened to grass for its abundance.
Second line, "on the carts that carry loads," names chikaraguruma, carts for hauling goods.
Third line, "seven carts piled high," exaggerates the quantity of her love.
Fourth line, "that I long so much, it comes," uses kouraku, the nominalized form of kou: my longing, heaped up.
Fifth line, "from no one but my own heart," means from my own heart, closing by tracing her love to herself.
- Author
- Princess Hirokawa
- Source
- Manyoshu
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