高円の野辺の秋萩このころの
暁露に咲きにけむかも
暁露に咲きにけむかも
- Roma-ji
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Takamato no nobe no akihagi konokoro no akatokitsuyu ni sakinikemu kamo
- English Translation
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On Takamato,
in the fields the autumn clover:
in these recent days,
touched by the dew before dawn,
has it bloomed by now, I wonder?
- Meaning
- The autumn bush clover in the fields of Takamato: has it bloomed by now, touched by the dew of these dawns?
- Commentary
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Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1605
Headnote: "A poem by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
The poet wonders whether the autumn bush clover in the fields of Takamato has bloomed, touched by the dew of these recent dawns. Thinking from afar of the clover of Takamato in Nara, he imagines its blooming, following the belief that dew brings flowers out. The poem stands last among the autumn miscellaneous poems.
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 the area of Mount Takamato in eastern Nara.
The second line names the autumn clover in the fields of Takamato; the sense breaks here, presenting the subject of the poem.
The third line means "of these recent days."
The fourth line means "in the dew before dawn."
The final line, with the perfective "ni," past conjectural "kemu," and exclamatory "kamo," surmises that it must have bloomed. Yamabe no Akahito's 1431 in this book likewise wonders of a warbler in a distant field, "has it begun to sing by now?" so the warbler of the spring miscellaneous poems and the clover of the autumn ones answer each other with final lines of the same form, thinking of things far away.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Aki sareba kasuga no yama no momichi miru nara no miyako no aruraku oshi mo
- Next Poem
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Kimi matsu to aga koioreba waga yado no sudare ugokashi aki no kaze fuku