我が背子とふたり見ませばいくばくか
この降る雪の嬉しくあらまし
この降る雪の嬉しくあらまし
- Roma-ji
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Waga seko to futari mimaseba ikubaku ka kono furu yuki no ureshiku aramashi
- English Translation
-
With you, my dear lord,
if we two could gaze on it,
oh, how much, how much
would this snow that falls today
fill my heart with happiness
- Meaning
- If only I were watching it together with you, my lord, how much more this falling snow would delight me.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Winter Love Poems 1658
Headnote: "A poem presented to the Emperor by Empress Fujiwara"
Presented to Emperor Shōmu, the poem says how happy she would be if she could watch this falling snow together with him. Before the lovely snowy scene, the Empress's longing for the Emperor, who is not beside her, is expressed with modesty and deep affection.
The author, Empress Kōmyō, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito and the consort of Emperor Shōmu. A devout Buddhist, she founded charitable institutions for the poor and sick.
The first line, "with my lord," fondly addresses Emperor Shōmu.
The second line, the counterfactual "mase" with "ba," means "if we two were watching it."
The third line, "how much," corresponds with "mashi" in the final line.
The fourth line means "of this snow now falling."
The final line, with the counterfactual "mashi," expresses her longing for the absent Emperor: how happy it would make me. Whereas 1650 of this book praises the snow at the Emperor's banquet, this poem sings of snow she cannot watch with him, so the snow of the same palace is sung with different hearts.
- Author
- Empress Kōmyō
- Source
- Manyoshu
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