春日野に咲きたる萩は片枝は
いまだふふめり言な絶えそね
いまだふふめり言な絶えそね
- Roma-ji
-
Kasugano ni sakitaru hagi wa kataeda wa imada fufumeri koto na tae so ne
- English Translation
-
On Kasuga's moor
the bush clover now in bloom—
yet one of its boughs
is still folded in the bud;
let not your words cease, I pray
- Meaning
- Of the bush clover blooming on Kasuga's moor, one bough is still in bud—so please, do not let your words cease.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1363
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
Since one bough of the bush clover on Kasuga's moor is still in bud, the poet asks that the words not cease. The unopened bough stands for a girl still too young, and the poem asks that the suitor keep speaking to her until then.
It is one of the poems under the heading "On Flowers." Bush clover is also the subject of the next poem and the one after, so three poems on bush clover follow in a row. The poet is unknown.
The first line, "On Kasuga's moor," names Kasugano in Yamato.
The second line, "the bush clover now in bloom," introduces the flower.
The third line, "yet one of its boughs," singles out one branch.
In the fourth line, "is still folded in the bud," "ri" marks a continuing state, and the poem pauses here.
The final line, "let not your words cease, I pray," combines the prohibition "na ... so" with the wishing particle "ne."
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Aki saraba utsushi mo semu to waga makishi karaai no hana o tare ka tsumikemu
- Next Poem
-
Mimaku hori koitsutsu machishi akihagi wa hana nomi sakite narazu kamo aramu