我が背子が見らむ佐保道の青柳を
手折りてだにも見むよしもがも
手折りてだにも見むよしもがも
- Roma-ji
-
Waga seko ga miramu sahoji no aoyagi o taorite dani mo mimu yoshi mo gamo
- English Translation
-
My dear one must see
the green willows by the road
that leads to Saho:
if only I had some way
to see a branch broken off
- Meaning
- The green willows along the Saho road that you must be looking at now: if only there were some way for me to see even a single branch broken off from them.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1432
Headnote: "Two poems on the willow by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
The poet wishes she might see even a single branch broken from the green willows along the Saho road, which someone dear to her must be gazing at now. Away from Saho, she entrusts to the newly budding willows her longing for home and for the person there.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She was the aunt of Ōtomo no Yakamochi and later also his mother-in-law, and she left many poems in the Man'yōshū.
The first line names the one who is looking at the willows.
The second line, with the present conjectural "ramu," imagines from afar that he must be looking at them now. The Saho road led to Saho in Nara, where the Ōtomo clan had its residence.
The third line names the fresh green willows. The next poem also sings of the green willows of Saho; the two poems divide between longing for distant willows and the willows themselves welcoming spring.
In the fourth line, "dani" means "at least," bringing out her present state of being unable to see the real thing.
The final line uses the desiderative "mo gamo," wishing for some way to see them, and closes the poem on a wish that cannot be fulfilled.
- Author
- Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Kudarano no hagi no furue ni haru matsu to orishi uguisu nakinikemu kamo
- Next Poem
-
Uchinoboru saho no kawara no aoyagi wa ima wa harube to narinikeru kamo