鳴る神の音のみ聞きし巻向の
桧原の山を今日見つるかも
桧原の山を今日見つるかも
- Roma-ji
-
Narukami no oto nomi kikishi makimuku no hibara no yama o kyō mitsuru kamo
- English Translation
-
Like the thunder's roar
only rumor had I heard
of Makimuku's
hills where cypress forests grow—
but today at last I've seen them
- Meaning
- Only by report had I heard of the cypress-clad hills of Makimuku, as one hears the roar of thunder—and today at last I have seen them.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1092
Headnote: "On Mountains"
This poem expresses the thrill of finally seeing with one's own eyes the cypress-covered hills of Makimuku, known until then only by reputation. The joy of seeing a famous place for the first time comes out as a frank exclamation.
It is the first poem under the heading "On Mountains." Its last line, "today at last I've seen," recurs in poems 1103 and 1105 in this book, repeated in the following groups as a pattern for the excitement of seeing a famous place.
The left note says, "The three poems above come from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection," so this and the next two poems come from that collection.
The first line uses "narukami," thunder, as a pillow word for "oto" (sound) because of its roar.
In the second line, "only rumor had I heard," "oto" means report or rumor; continuing from the pillow word, it says the poet had known the place only by hearsay.
The third line, "of Makimuku's," names a district in the southeast of the Nara basin often sung in the Hitomaro Collection.
The fourth line, "hills where cypress forests grow," refers to the famous cypress woods stretching from Mount Miwa to Mount Makimuku.
The final line, "but today at last I've seen them," adds the exclamatory "kamo" to the attributive of the perfective "tsu," expressing the emotion of seeing the place in person.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Tōrubeku ame wa na furi so wagimoko ga katami no koromo are shita ni keri
- Next Poem
-
Mimoro no sono yamanami ni kora ga te o makimukuyama wa tsugi shi yoroshi mo