我がやどの草の上白く置く露の
身も惜しからず妹に逢はずあれば
身も惜しからず妹に逢はずあれば
- Roma-ji
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Waga yado no kusa no ue shiroku oku tsuyu no mi mo oshikarazu imo ni awazu areba
- English Translation
-
In my garden here,
lying white upon the grass,
like the fleeting dew,
this my life I value not,
since I cannot meet my love
- Meaning
- Like the dew lying white on the grass of my garden, this fleeting life of mine is nothing to me, since I cannot meet my love.
- Commentary
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Book Four Love Poems 785
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems sent by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi to a maiden"
In the last of the three, he says that his life, fleeting as the dew lying white on the grass of his garden, is nothing to him if he cannot meet her. Like Lady Kasa's poem 594, it takes the dew on the garden grass as its preface.
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 my garden here," opens the same way as poem 594.
Second line, "lying white upon the grass," runs to eight syllables.
Third line, "like the fleeting dew," names the dew; the first three lines form a preface to "this my life."
Fourth line, "this my life I value not," means even my life is not precious.
Fifth line, "since I cannot meet my love," runs to nine syllables: because I do not meet you.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Utsutsu ni wa sara ni mo e iwazu ime ni dani imo ga tamoto o makinu to shi miba
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Haru no ame wa iyashiki furu ni ume no hana imada sakanaku ito wakami kamo