春霞立ちにし日より今日までに
我が恋やまず本の繁けば
我が恋やまず本の繁けば
- Roma-ji
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Harugasumi tachinishi hi yori kyō made ni aga koi yamazu moto no shigekeba
- English Translation
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Since the day at first
when the haze of spring arose
even to this day,
my longing has never ceased,
for its roots are thick and deep.
- Meaning
- From the day the spring haze first rose until today, my longing has never ceased, for its roots grow thick and deep.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1910
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Haze"
This poem laments that love has not ceased from the day the spring haze rose until today. The closing "moto no shigekeba" is thought to liken the deep, profuse root of love to the dense growth at the base of a plant. The kundoku also carries a variant, "katamoi ni shite," reading the last line as "because it is a one-sided love." Following the haze of the preceding poem, it takes the day the haze rose as the beginning of love.
The first line, "spring haze," is the same as in the preceding poem.
In the second line, "tachinishi hi yori," "ni" marks completion and "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki," setting the day the haze rose as the starting point of love.
The third line, "until today," shows a long span of time.
The fourth line, "my love does not cease," breaks the poem after the fourth line.
The last line, "moto no shigekeba," because the roots are thick, uses "ba" as an established condition, and by inversion gives at the end why love does not cease.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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