手もすまに植ゑし萩にやかへりては
見れども飽かず心尽さむ
見れども飽かず心尽さむ
- Roma-ji
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Te mo suma ni ueshi hagi ni ya kaerite wa miredomo akazu kokoro tsukusamu
- English Translation
-
With no rest for hands,
the bush clover that I planted:
will it be, instead,
never tiring though I gaze,
that I spend my heart on it?
- Meaning
- The bush clover I planted without resting my hands: will it now be the very thing on which I spend my heart, never tiring however long I gaze?
- Commentary
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Book Eight Autumn Love Poems 1633
Headnote: "Two poems sent by a certain person to a nun"
The poet wonders whether the bush clover he planted with such labor will now be the thing on which he spends his heart, never tiring of gazing at it. According to the headnote, it was sent by someone to a nun, and one view holds that the clover stands for a daughter the nun raised with loving care, the poem expressing the sender's attraction to her.
The author is identified in the headnote only as "a certain person," and the name is not known.
The first line means "without resting my hands," showing the labor of planting. Lady Ki's 1460 in this book also says "without resting my hands" of pulling reed flowers in the fields.
The second line, containing the interrogative "ya," means "is it on the clover I planted?" and corresponds with the conjecture of the final line.
The third line means "on the contrary, instead."
The fourth line means "however long I gaze, I never tire."
The final line forms a kakari-musubi, closing in the attributive of the conjectural "mu" in answer to "ya," surmising that he will spend his heart on it.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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