我妹子が業と作れる秋の田の
早稲穂のかづら見れど飽かぬかも
早稲穂のかづら見れど飽かぬかも
- Roma-ji
-
Wagimoko ga nari to tsukureru aki no ta no wasaho no kazura miredo akanu kamo
- English Translation
-
My dear one, your work,
what you made with your own hands,
from the autumn field
this garland of early ears:
though I gaze, I never tire
- Meaning
- The garland of early rice ears from the autumn field that you tended with your own labor: however long I gaze at it, I never tire.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Love Poems 1625
Headnote: "A poem sent in reply by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
Answering the Elder Daughter of Sakanoue's gift, Yakamochi says he never tires of gazing at the garland of early rice ears she made from her own work in the fields. By praising the garland, he expresses love and gratitude to the giver. The note dates this exchange to the ninth month of autumn, Tenpyō 11 (739).
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 woman he loves, here the Elder Daughter of Sakanoue.
The second line means "what you made as your work in the fields," taking up "that I sowed" of the preceding poem.
The third line names the autumn field where the rice ripens.
The fourth line takes up the "garland" made from "the ears of the early rice field" in the preceding poem.
The final line, with the concessive "do" and exclamatory "kamo," expresses his joy in the gift: however long he looks, he never tires. It answers her wish, "gaze on it and remember me," by saying he never tires of gazing.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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