をみなへし秋萩折れれ玉桙の
道行きづとと乞はむ子がため
道行きづとと乞はむ子がため
- Roma-ji
-
Ominaeshi akihagi orere tamahoko no michiyukizuto to kowamu ko ga tame
- English Translation
-
Maiden flowers there,
and autumn clover: pick them,
for along the road,
as a gift from the journey,
the girl at home will ask
- Meaning
- Pick some maiden flowers and autumn bush clover, for the girl who will ask for a gift from the journey.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1534
Headnote: "A poem by Ishikawa no Ason Okina"
The poet calls on his traveling companions to pick maiden flowers and autumn bush clover for the girl who will ask for a gift from the journey. It expresses a wish to bring the autumn flowers of the road home as a present for the girl who waits.
The author, Ishikawa no Okina, was an official of the Nara period about whom little is known.
The first line names the maiden flower, one of the seven flowers of autumn, which bears tiny yellow blossoms.
In the second line, "orere" is the imperative of the continuative "ri": "pick them and keep them." The poem pauses here. 1530 of this book also pairs maiden flowers with autumn bush clover.
The third line, "tamahoko no," is a pillow word for "road."
The fourth line means "as a gift from the journey."
The final line, "for the girl who will ask," gives at the end, by inversion, the purpose of picking the flowers.
- Author
- Ishikawa no Okina
- Source
- Manyoshu
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