妹が紐結八河内をいにしへの
みな人見きとここを誰れ知る
みな人見きとここを誰れ知る
- Roma-ji
-
Imo ga himo yuyakōchi o inishie no mina hito miki to koko o tare shiru
- English Translation
-
As my darling's cords
are tied—in Yuya's valley
so the people
of old all saw it, they say,
but who now knows this place?
- Meaning
- The river valley of Yuya—"tying," like my love's robe cords—people of old, they say, all came to see it; but who now knows this place?
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1115
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Rivers"
The poet says that people of old all saw the river valley of Yuya, but asks who now knows this place. As in the preceding poem, "my darling's cords" in the first line leads to "yuu" (to tie), and the same place name is praised.
It is an obscure poem with several interpretations: some take it as the joy of keeping the beauty of the place to oneself, others as regret for a land that people have forgotten. The poet is unknown.
The first line, "As my darling's cords," leads through the idea of tying to "Yuya," the same device as the first two lines of the preceding poem.
In the second line, "kōchi" means a flat land opening along a river; it is the same place as the Yuya River of the preceding poem.
The third line, "the people of old," means those of former times.
The fourth line, "all saw it, they say," uses the past auxiliary "ki."
The final line, "but who now knows this place?" closes with a rhetorical question.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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-
Waga himo o imo ga te mochite yuyagawa mata kaerimimu yorozuyo made ni
- Next Poem
-
Nubatama no waga kurokami ni furinazumu ame no tsuyushimo toreba kenitsutsu