君がため浮沼の池の菱摘むと
我が染めし袖濡れにけるかも
我が染めし袖濡れにけるかも
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ga tame ukinu no ike no hishi tsumu to waga someshi sode nurenikeru kamo
- English Translation
-
For your sake, my love,
picking water chestnuts
in Ukinu's pond,
the sleeves that I dyed myself
have been drenched all through
- Meaning
- For your sake I went to pick water chestnuts in the pond of Ukinu—and the sleeves I dyed with my own hands have been soaked through.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1249
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Journeys"
Trying to gather water chestnuts in the pond of Ukinu for the one she loves, the speaker has soaked the precious sleeves she dyed herself. Her willingness to take pains for her beloved mingles with regret at the soaked sleeves.
According to the left note it comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection and is written in the abbreviated style. It is regarded as spoken by a woman; some place the pond of Ukinu in Iwami. The first line, "For your sake," is the woman's counterpart of "For my darling's sake" in poem 1145 and others in this book.
The first line, "For your sake, my love," is spoken from a woman's standpoint.
The second line names the pond of Ukinu, whose location is disputed.
The third line, "picking water chestnuts," states her purpose.
The fourth line, "the sleeves that I dyed myself," refers to sleeves she colored with her own hands.
The final line, "have been drenched all through," is the same as the last line of poems 1141 and 1241 in this book.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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