夜のほどろ我が出でて来れば我妹子が
思へりしくし面影に見ゆ
思へりしくし面影に見ゆ
- Roma-ji
-
Yo no hodoro waga idete kureba wagimoko ga omoerishiku shi omokage ni miyu
- English Translation
-
In the dawning dark,
as I came away from her,
my own dearest one,
how she looked in sorrowing
rises now before my eyes
- Meaning
- When I came away in the half-light before dawn, the look of sorrow on my beloved's face rose up before my eyes.
- Commentary
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Book Four Love Poems 754
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Fifteen more poems sent by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi to the Elder Daughter of Sakanoue"
As he leaves in the half-light before dawn, the image of his beloved, sunk in sorrow at their parting, rises before his eyes. It depicts the parting before daybreak after a night together.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito and a poet thought to have been deeply involved in compiling the Man'yōshū. He later rose to the rank of Middle Counselor.
First line, "In the dawning dark," names hodoro, the faint light before dawn.
Second line, "as I came away from her," runs to eight syllables: when I came out.
Third line, "my own dearest one," means my beloved.
Fourth line, "how she looked in sorrowing," uses a nominalized form: the way she was thinking.
Fifth line, "rises now before my eyes," means appears as an image, ending in the conclusive.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Aimite wa shimashi mo koi wa nagimu ka to omoedo iyoyo koimasarikeri
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Yo no hodoro idetsutsu kuraku tabi maneku nareba aga mune tachiyaku gotoshi