我が宿の花橘のいつしかも
玉に貫くべくその実なりなむ
玉に貫くべくその実なりなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Waga yado no hanatachibana no itsushika mo tama ni nukubeku sono mi narinamu
- English Translation
-
In my garden here
the orange tree in flower:
how soon, I wonder,
fit to be strung as beads,
will its fruit come to be?
- Meaning
- The orange blossoms in my garden: how soon will they bear fruit fit to be strung as beads?
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1478
Headnote: "A poem on the orange tree by Ōtomo no Yakamochi"
Looking at the orange tree blooming in his garden, the poet longs for it to bear fruit soon so that it can be strung as beads. The poem enjoys the beauty of the flowers while awaiting the ripening that follows.
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 names his own garden.
The second line names the orange tree in flower. Bearing white flowers in early summer, it is sung again and again in the summer miscellaneous poems.
The third line, "itsushika mo," expresses an eager "how soon?"
The fourth line means "so that they can be strung as beads." Threading beads is also sung in 1465 and 1502 of this book and is tied to the custom of the fifth-month festival.
The final line, with the perfective "na" and conjectural "mu," expresses impatience: when will the fruit appear?
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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