秋風の吹きにし日よりいつしかと
我が待ち恋ひし君ぞ来ませる
我が待ち恋ひし君ぞ来ませる
- Roma-ji
-
Akikaze no fukinishi hi yori itsushika to aga machikoishi kimi zo kimaseru
- English Translation
-
Since the autumn wind
first began to blow that day,
"when, oh when?" I thought,
and the one I waited for, longing,
has come to me at last
- Meaning
- Ever since the day the autumn wind began to blow, I have waited, longing, wondering when; and now at last you have come.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1523
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Twelve poems on the Tanabata festival by Yamanoue no Omi Okura"
From the standpoint of the Weaver Maiden, the poem rejoices that the Herdsman, for whom she has yearned ever since the autumn wind began to blow, has come at last. The note says, "The above: on the night of the eighth day of the seventh month of Tenpyō 2 (730), a gathering at the Governor-General's house," so it was composed at a gathering at the house of Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of Dazaifu.
The author, Yamanoue no Okura, was an official and poet of the early Nara period. He went to Tang China as a member of an embassy and later became governor of Chikuzen. He is known for poems that look closely at human life and society.
The first line names the wind that announces autumn, marking the start of the Tanabata season.
The second line, "since the day it first blew," shows how long she has waited.
The third line expresses an eager "when, oh when?"
The fourth line means "whom I have waited for and longed for."
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "zo" and "ru," the attributive of the continuative "ri," expressing joy that he has come at last. Whereas the sequence opened with a poem sensing his approach, this one sings of the joy of the visit fulfilled.
- Author
- Yamanoue no Okura
- Source
- Manyoshu
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