三諸のその山なみに子らが手を
巻向山は継ぎしよろしも
巻向山は継ぎしよろしも
- Roma-ji
-
Mimoro no sono yamanami ni kora ga te o makimukuyama wa tsugi shi yoroshi mo
- English Translation
-
To the range of hills
of sacred Mimoro there,
like a girl's arm pillowed,
Makimuku Mountain
joins on—how fair it is!
- Meaning
- How fine it is that Mount Makimuku—named as though for pillowing on a maiden's arm—runs on in one line with the hills of sacred Mimoro.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1093
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Mountains"
This poem praises as delightful the way Mount Makimuku continues the range of Mount Miwa, the sacred mountain. The link between the mountains is expressed with a pillow word evoking the intimacy of pillowing on a lover's arm, and the poem becomes a praise of the land akin to a land-viewing song.
Following the preceding poem's joy at seeing the cypress hills of Makimuku, it praises the chain linking Mount Makimuku and Mount Miwa. The left note says, "The three poems above come from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection."
The first line, "of sacred Mimoro," means a place where a deity descends and dwells, here Mount Miwa.
The second line, "To the range of hills," refers to that line of mountains.
The third line, "like a girl's arm pillowed," is a pillow word for "Makimuku," from "maku," to pillow one's head on a beloved girl's arm.
The fourth line, "Makimuku Mountain," refers to the mountain lying north of Mount Miwa. It picks up "Makimuku" from the third line of the preceding poem and continues singing of that district.
In the final line, "joins on—how fair it is!" "shi" is an emphatic particle and "mo" an exclamatory particle: how pleasing is the way they continue.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Narukami no oto nomi kikishi makimuku no hibara no yama o kyō mitsuru kamo
- Next Poem
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Aga koromo irodori somemu umasake mimuro no yama wa momichi shinikeri