我が君に戯奴は恋ふらし賜りたる
茅花を食めどいや痩せに痩す
茅花を食めどいや痩せに痩す
- Roma-ji
-
Aga kimi ni wake wa kourashi tabaritaru tsubana o hamedo iya yase ni yasu
- English Translation
-
To his mistress, it seems,
your little servant is in love,
for the reed flowers
that you gave me, though I eat,
only make me thinner still
- Meaning
- It seems your servant is in love with his mistress: though I eat the reed flowers you gave me, I only grow thinner and thinner.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Spring Love Poems 1462
Headnote: "Two poems sent by Ōtomo no Yakamochi in reply"
Answering Lady Ki's 1460, Yakamochi replies that though he eats the reed flowers she gave him, lovesickness only makes him thinner. Accepting the name "wake" she called him and humbling himself, he pleads his love in a witty rejoinder.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was a son of Ōtomo no Tabito and an official of the Nara period. He rose to the post of Middle Counselor, is thought to have been closely involved in compiling the Man'yōshū, and left more poems than anyone else in the anthology.
The first line refers to Lady Ki as his mistress, taking up her calling herself "kimi."
The second line, with the inferential "rashi," says "it seems your servant is in love," feigning innocence as if speaking of someone else. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "tabaritaru," is a humble expression meaning "that I received."
The fourth line, with the concessive "do," means "though I eat the reed flowers," answering her "eat them and grow plump."
The final line repeats "yasu," exaggerating that he grows thinner and thinner, and turns her words "grow plump" against her.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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