あしひきの山下響め鳴く鹿の
言ともしかも我が心夫
言ともしかも我が心夫
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yamashita toyome naku shika no koto tomoshi kamo waga kokorozuma
- English Translation
-
Of the rugged hills,
making the mountain's foot ring,
the deer cries out loud,
yet how scarce your words to me,
my husband in my heart
- Meaning
- The deer's cry rings through the foot of the mountain, yet how scarce your words to me are, my husband in my heart.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Love Poems 1611
Headnote: "A poem by Princess Kasanui [a daughter of Prince Mutobe; her mother was Princess Takata]"
Though a deer's cry rings through the foot of the mountain, the poet laments how scarce are the words of the man she has chosen in her heart as husband. Contrasting the deer's call resounding for its mate with a lover who rarely sends word, she expresses the loneliness of a secret love.
The author, Princess Kasanui, was, as the note in the headnote says, a daughter of Prince Mutobe; her mother was Princess Takata.
The first line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word for "mountain."
The second line means "making the foot of the mountain ring." Ōtomo no Yakamochi's 1603 in this book likewise sings of a deer's cry "calling so that the mountains ring."
The third line means "of the deer crying for its mate," and the first three lines work as a preface leading to "words."
In the fourth line, "tomoshi" here means scarce, lamenting how few his words are.
The final line ends on a noun, closing with an address to the one she has made her husband in her heart.
- Author
- Princess Kasanui
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Uda no no no akihagi shinogi naku shika mo tsuma ni kouraku ware ni wa masaji
- Next Poem
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Kamusabu to ina ni wa arazu akikusa no musubishi himo o toku wa kanashi mo