我が聞きに懸けてな言ひそ刈り薦の
乱れて思ふ君が直香ぞ
乱れて思ふ君が直香ぞ
- Roma-ji
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Waga kiki ni kakete na ii so karikomo no midarete omou kimi ga tadaka zo
- English Translation
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Where my ears can hear,
do not speak to me of her;
like the reaped rush-mats,
all in tangles is my heart,
thinking on her ways and looks
- Meaning
- Do not speak of her where I can hear; my heart is tangled like cut rushes when I think of her ways.
- Commentary
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Book Four Love Poems 697
Headnote: "Three poems by Ōtomo no Sukune Katami"
He asks that no one speak of his beloved where he can hear, for when he hears of her, whom he already thinks of in turmoil like cut rushes, his heart is thrown into still greater disorder.
The author, Ōtomo no Katami, was an official of the Ōtomo clan.
First line, "Where my ears can hear," means in my hearing.
Second line, "do not speak to me of her," uses the prohibitive na ... so: do not speak of it. The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "like the reaped rush-mats," is karikomo no, a pillow word for "tangled," since cut rushes lie in disorder.
Fourth line, "all in tangles is my heart," means I think of her in confusion.
Fifth line, "thinking on her ways and looks," uses tadaka, a person's manner and appearance: it is her ways.
- Author
- Ōtomo no Katami
- Source
- Manyoshu
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