岩倉の小野ゆ秋津に立ちわたる
雲にしもあれや時をし待たむ
雲にしもあれや時をし待たむ
- Roma-ji
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Iwakura no ono yu akizu ni tachiwataru kumo ni shi mo are ya toki o shi matamu
- English Translation
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From Iwakura's
meadows over Akizu
spreading far and wide—
am I then a drifting cloud,
that I should bide my time and wait?
- Meaning
- Am I a cloud that spreads from the meadows of Iwakura over Akizu? I am not—so how could I bide my time and wait?
- Commentary
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Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1368
Headnote: "On Clouds"
The poet asks whether he is a cloud spreading from the meadows of Iwakura over Akizu, and how, not being one, he could bide his time. It is read as expressing a love that cannot wait for the right moment, in contrast to clouds that rise when their time comes, but the poem is obscure and interpretations vary.
It is the only poem under the heading "On Clouds." Akizu is taken to be a place in Yoshino, and the location of Iwakura is unknown. The poet is unknown.
The first line names Iwakura, whose location is unknown.
In the second line, "meadows over Akizu," "yu" marks the starting point.
The third line, "spreading far and wide," describes clouds rising and spreading across the sky.
In the fourth line, "am I then a drifting cloud," "shimo" is emphatic and "ya" is rhetorical.
In the final line, "that I should bide my time and wait," "shi" is emphatic.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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