ぬばたまの我が黒髪に降りなづむ
天の露霜取れば消につつ
天の露霜取れば消につつ
- Roma-ji
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Nubatama no waga kurokami ni furinazumu ame no tsuyushimo toreba kenitsutsu
- English Translation
-
On my black hair,
black as the jet-black berry,
lingering, it falls—
the dew and frost of heaven
that melt each time I touch them
- Meaning
- The dew and frost of heaven linger where they fall on my jet-black hair—yet each time I take them in my hand, they vanish.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1116
Headnote: "On Dew"
This poem sings of the transience of the dew and frost that settle and linger on the poet's black hair, vanishing each time he tries to take them in his hand. The contrast between black hair and white frost is vivid, and the poem holds a feeling for things beautiful yet fleeting.
It is a poem under the heading "On Dew." The poet is unknown.
The first line uses "nubatama no," a pillow word for "kuro" (black).
The second line, "On my black hair," reinforced by the pillow word, stresses the blackness of the hair.
In the third line, "nazumu" means to linger or hesitate: the dew falls and stays there.
The fourth line, "the dew and frost of heaven," means dew and frost fallen from the sky, or dew chilled until it becomes like frost. The black of the hair is contrasted with the white of the frost.
In the final line, "that melt each time I touch them," "tsutsu" expresses repetition, conveying with a lingering tone the fragility that makes them vanish at every touch.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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