あしひきの山にしをれば風流なみ
我がするわざをとがめたまふな
我がするわざをとがめたまふな
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yama ni shi oreba miyabi nami waga suru waza o togametamau na
- English Translation
-
On the mountainside,
since I dwell among the hills,
lacking courtly grace,
all the things that I may do,
pray, my lord, do not reprove
- Meaning
- Since I live in the mountains, I lack courtly refinement; I pray you, do not find fault with what I do.
- Commentary
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Book Four Love Poems 721
Headnote: "A poem presented to the emperor; Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue composed it while at her house in Saho"
Lady Sakanoue presented this poem to Emperor Shōmu from her house at Saho. Living in the hills, she lacks the refinement of the capital, and she humbly asks him not to reprove whatever she does amiss; it seems to have accompanied an offering.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She left many poems in the Man'yōshū and is esteemed as a leading woman poet.
First line, "On the mountainside," is ashihiki no, a pillow word for "mountain."
Second line, "since I dwell among the hills," uses the emphatic shi: since I live in the mountains.
Third line, "lacking courtly grace," reads the characters as miyabi, courtly elegance: because I lack it.
Fourth line, "all the things that I may do," means what I do.
Fifth line, "pray, my lord, do not reprove," uses the honorific tamau and prohibitive na: please do not blame me.
- Author
- Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
- Source
- Manyoshu
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