かはづ鳴く吉野の川の滝の上の
馬酔木の花ぞはしに置くなゆめ
馬酔木の花ぞはしに置くなゆめ
- Roma-ji
-
Kawazu naku yoshino no kawa no taki no ue no ashibi no hana zo hashi ni oku na yume
- English Translation
-
Where the kajika sing
by the Yoshino River,
above the rapids—
these are flowers of ashibi;
never leave them off to one side!
- Meaning
- These are flowers of ashibi from beside the rapids of the Yoshino River, where the kajika frogs sing. Never, ever set them off to one side.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1868
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem insists that the ashibi blossoms picked beside the rapids of the Yoshino River not be treated carelessly. The poet's attachment to flowers brought all the way from distant Yoshino shows in the strong prohibition "never leave them at the edge." It may also be read as words to the one to whom the flowers are given, revealing the depth of feeling entrusted to them. Within the flower group it takes up ashibi, a different flower following the cherry.
The first line, "where kajika sing," modifies "Yoshino." "Kawazu" is the kajika frog of clear streams, known for its limpid voice.
The second line, "of the Yoshino River," names the clear river flowing through southern Yamato, sung since ancient times as a famous place.
In the third line, "taki no ue no," "taki" means rapids and "ue" the bank beside them; the repeated "no" narrows the place step by step.
In the fourth line, "ashibi no hana zo," "zo" is an emphatic particle, and the poem breaks here, stressing that these flowers bloomed far off by the Yoshino rapids.
In the last line, "hashi ni oku na yume," "na" is a prohibitive particle and "yume" means never; the inversion strengthens the prohibition, and the line is hypermetric.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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