大君の御笠の山の帯にせる
細谷川の音のさやけさ
細谷川の音のさやけさ
- Roma-ji
-
Ōkimi no mikasa no yama no obi ni seru hosotanigawa no oto no sayakesa
- English Translation
-
Round the Mikasa,
our great sovereign's hat-shaped hill,
worn as its sash,
the narrow valley stream—
how clear the sound it makes!
- Meaning
- The narrow valley stream that Mount Mikasa wears as its sash—how pure and clear the sound it makes!
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1102
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Rivers"
This poem praises the clear sound of a narrow valley stream that winds like a sash around the foot of Mount Mikasa. Treating the mountain as a person and the stream as its sash gives the poem an elegant dignity.
One of the group on rivers, it praises a pure river sound in contrast to the wild roar of the night river in the preceding poem, so that river sounds are sung in different moods. The poet is unknown.
The first line uses "ōkimi no," from the sovereign's parasol ("kasa"), as a pillow word for "Mikasa."
The second line refers to Mount Mikasa east of the capital at Nara.
In the third line, "worn as its sash," "-ru" is the attributive of the stative "ri." The mountain is pictured as a person, with the stream winding round its foot as a sash.
The fourth line, "the narrow valley stream," names the slender brook.
The final line, "how clear the sound it makes!" ends with a noun formed from the stem of "sayakeshi," expressing wonder at the purity of the sound. Poems 1112 and 1159 in this book have the same last line.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Nubatama no yoru sarikureba makimuku no kawato takashi mo arashi kamo toki
- Next Poem
-
Imashiku wa mime ya to omoishi miyoshino no ōkawayodo o kyō mitsuru kamo