大の浦のその長浜に寄する波
ゆたけく君を思ふこのころ
ゆたけく君を思ふこのころ
- Roma-ji
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Ō no ura no sono nagahama ni yosuru nami yutakeku kimi o omou konokoro
- English Translation
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On the bay of Ō,
on its long and gentle beach
the waves come rolling:
broadly, so I think of you
in these days, as calm as they
- Meaning
- Like the waves that roll in upon the long beach of Ō Bay, broad and generous is the way I think of you these days.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Autumn Love Poems 1615
Headnote: "A poem bestowed by the Emperor in reply"
Answering Prince Sakurai's poem, the Emperor sings that he thinks of him with a broad and generous heart, like the waves rolling gently onto the long beach of Ō Bay. Using the scene of a beach in Tōtōmi, where the prince was posted, it entrusts to a vast landscape the Emperor's care for his subject.
"The Emperor" in the headnote is taken to be Emperor Shōmu. The author, Emperor Shōmu, was a son of Emperor Monmu and reigned in the Nara period. A devout Buddhist, he built the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji.
The original text contains a note at the end, "Ō Bay is the name of a shore in Tōtōmi Province"; as it is not part of the poem, it has been removed.
The first line, with an extra syllable, is, as the note says, the name of a shore in Tōtōmi Province.
The second line means "on its long beach."
With the third line, the first three lines become a preface leading to "broadly." Whereas the preceding poem sang of geese, messengers of the sky, this one answers with waves of the sea, so sky and sea form a pair.
The fourth line means "broadly and generously, you."
The final line ends on a noun, "these days when I think of you," expressing his unchanging regard for his subject.
- Author
- Emperor Shōmu
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Nagatsuki no sono hatsukari no tsukai ni mo omou kokoro wa kikoekonu kamo
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Asagoto ni waga miru yado no nadeshiko no hana ni mo kimi wa arikosenu kamo