ま日長く恋ふる心ゆ秋風に
妹が音聞こゆ紐解き行かな
妹が音聞こゆ紐解き行かな
- Roma-ji
-
Makenagaku kouru kokoro yu akikaze ni imo ga oto kikoyu himo toki yukana
- English Translation
-
For long, long days now
from a heart that's longed for her,
in the autumn wind
I can hear my darling's voice—
loosening my sash, I'll go.
- Meaning
- Perhaps because my heart has longed so many days, I hear my beloved's voice on the autumn wind. I will loosen my sash and go to her.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2016
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
In this poem the Herdsman, perhaps because of a heart long in longing, seems to hear the Weaver's voice on the autumn wind and vows to loosen his sash and go to meet her. The autumn wind announces the season of meeting, and the heart swells as if the wind carries the beloved's voice. Whereas in 2015 the Weaver heard the sound of oars, here the Herdsman hears his wife's voice, so the two form a pair with the listener exchanged.
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.
In the first line, "makenagaku," "ma" is a prefix and "kenagaku" means over many days.
In the second line, "kouru kokoro yu," "yu" marks cause or route: from the heart that longs.
The third line, "on the autumn wind," names what carries the voice.
The fourth line, "I hear my wife's voice," breaks the poem after the fourth line.
In the last line, "himo toki yukana," "na" is a particle of intention, closing with the eager wish to loosen his sash and go.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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