川の上のいつ藻の花のいつもいつも
来ませ我が背子時じけめやも
来ませ我が背子時じけめやも
- Roma-ji
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Kawa no ue no itsumo no hana no itsumo itsumo kimase waga seko tokijikeme ya mo
- English Translation
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On the river's banks
like the itsumo's flowers,
at all times, always,
come to me, my dearest one—
could there ever be a wrong time?
- Meaning
- Like the flowers of the itsumo waterweed by the river, come to me always, always, my love—how could any time be the wrong time?
- Commentary
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Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1931
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems in Dialogue"
Answering the preceding poem's lament at not meeting, this poem replies that the beloved should come at any time, for no time could be amiss, and it forms an exchange with 1930. The sound of "itsumo" leads into "itsumo itsumo," always, always, and the echo of repetition carries a heart that waits at every moment. Whereas the preceding poem brought up a seaweed that does not flower, this one answers with a river weed that does, contrasting sea and river, and a flower that does not bloom with one that does.
The first line, "by the river," is hypermetric.
In the second line, "itsumo no hana no," "itsumo" is thought to be a river waterweed, and the upper lines form a preface leading into the homophonous "itsumo."
The third line, "itsumo itsumo," is hypermetric, and the repetition strengthens the sense of always.
In the fourth line, "kimase waga seko," "mase" is an honorific imperative: please come.
In the last line, "tokijikeme ya mo," "tokiji" means out of season and "me ya mo" is rhetorical: could it be the wrong time? never. It closes by answering that any time is welcome.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Azusayumi hikitsu no he naru nanoriso no hana saku made ni awanu kimi ka mo
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Harusame no yamazu furufuru aga kouru hito no me sura o aimisenaku ni