はなはだも降らぬ雨故にはたづみ
いたくな行きそ人の知るべく
いたくな行きそ人の知るべく
- Roma-ji
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Hanahada mo furanu ame yue niwatazumi itaku na yuki so hito no shirubeku
- English Translation
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Though it hardly fell,
this rain that came so lightly—
O you running rills,
do not flow so strong and far,
lest people come to know
- Meaning
- The rain hardly fell at all—so, rivulets of rainwater, do not run so hard, or people will come to know.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1370
Headnote: "On Rain"
Though the rain hardly fell, the poet tells the rivulets of rainwater not to run so hard that people will know. The poem warns, through the image of the running water, against rumor spreading widely when the relationship is not even very deep.
It is the first poem under the heading "On Rain." The next poem also concerns rain, and the two make up the poems "On Rain." The poet is unknown.
The first line, "Though it hardly fell," means "not much at all."
In the second line, "this rain that came so lightly," "yue" carries a concessive sense.
The third line calls out to the "niwatazumi," rainwater pooling and running on the ground.
The fourth line, "do not flow so strong and far," is a prohibition with "na ... so," and the poem pauses here.
The final line, "lest people come to know," gives the reason for the prohibition by inversion.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Amakumo ni chikaku hikarite naru kami no mireba kashikoshi mineba kanashi mo
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Hisakata no ame ni wa kinu o ayashiku mo waga koromode wa hiru toki naki ka