幸はひのいかなる人か黒髪の
白くなるまで妹が声を聞く
白くなるまで妹が声を聞く
- Roma-ji
-
Sakiwai no ika naru hito ka kurokami no shiroku naru made imo ga koe o kiku
- English Translation
-
How blessed with fortune
what kind of man must he be,
until his black hair
has turned to white with the years,
to hear his dear wife's voice?
- Meaning
- How blessed must he be, the man who hears his wife's voice until his black hair has turned white?
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Elegies 1411
Headnote: none (Elegies section)
How fortunate must be the man who can hear his wife's voice until his black hair turns white, the poet says. By envying those who grow old together with their wives, he conveys his own grief at losing his wife young.
It is the eighth poem in the elegy section. Following the preceding poem's lament that life comes but once, this one voices the same grief of loss by envying others who live long with their wives. The poet is unknown.
The first line, "How blessed with fortune," speaks of happiness.
In the second line, "what kind of man must he be," the particle "ka" is answered by the attributive "kiku" in the final line.
The third line, "until his black hair," refers to dark hair.
The fourth line, "has turned to white with the years," expresses living together into old age.
The final line, "to hear his dear wife's voice," closes in the attributive form, answering the "ka" of the second line.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Yo no naka wa makoto futayo wa yukazarashi suginishi imo ni awanaku omoeba
- Next Poem
-
Waga seko o izuchi yukame to sakitake no sogai ni neshiku imashi kuyashi mo