春さればまづさきくさの幸くあらば
後にも逢はむな恋ひそ我妹
後にも逢はむな恋ひそ我妹
- Roma-ji
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Haru sareba mazu sakikusa no sakiku araba nochi ni mo awamu na koi so wagimo
- English Translation
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When the spring comes round,
first to bloom the sakikusa—
if we're safe and well,
we will meet in days to come;
do not pine so, my dear wife!
- Meaning
- Like the sakikusa that blooms first when spring comes, if only we stay safe and well, we will meet again later. Do not pine so, my darling.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1895
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Spring Love Poems"
This poem comforts a wife grieving at parting, telling her not to pine so, for if they stay safe they will meet again. The "sakikusa" of the upper lines leads, by its sound, into "sakiku," safely, as a preface, entrusting the hope of reunion to the brightness of a spring flower. Whereas the preceding poems pined with longing, this one speaks from the side that soothes such longing, so that within the love group the one who longs and the one who consoles form a pair.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.
The first line, "when spring comes," marks the season.
In the second line, "mazu sakikusa no," "sakikusa" is a plant said to bloom before others in spring, sometimes identified as the paperbush. It serves as a preface leading into the homophonous "sakiku."
The third line, "sakiku araba," if we are safe, is hypermetric, and the echo of "sakikusa" and "sakiku" smooths the rhythm.
In the fourth line, "nochi ni mo awamu," "mu" expresses conjecture and intention: surely we will meet later. The poem breaks here.
The last line, "na koi so wagimo," uses "na ... so" for prohibition: do not pine. Calling her "wagimo," my dear, it closes with tender care for his wife.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Kasumi tatsu haru no nagahi o koikurashi yo mo fukeyuku ni imo mo awanu ka mo
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Haru sareba shidariyanagi no tōo ni mo imo wa kokoro ni norinikeru ka mo