君に逢はず久しき時ゆ織る服の
白栲衣垢付くまでに
白栲衣垢付くまでに
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ni awazu hisashiki toki yu oru hata no shirotaegoromo aka tsuku made ni
- English Translation
-
Not meeting you, love,
since a long time I have woven
cloth upon the loom—
robe of white cloth, snowy white,
till the grime has settled on.
- Meaning
- The white robe I have been weaving on my loom ever since I last met you so long ago—it has grown soiled with waiting.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2028
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem, in the Weaver's voice, says that the white robe she has woven for so long without meeting the Herdsman has become soiled. As if answering the preceding poem, in which the Herdsman asked whether the cloth was finished, it pleads that so much time has passed that the cloth grew dirty as she wove. The two poems correspond like the Herdsman's question and the Weaver's answer.
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, "without meeting you," is hypermetric.
In the second line, "hisashiki toki yu," "yu" marks the starting point: since a long time.
The third line, "the cloth I weave," names the work on the loom.
The fourth line, "a robe of white cloth," takes up "shirotae" of the preceding poem.
The last line, "till grime has settled," closes in a suspended form showing the length of time apart.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Aga tame to tanabatatsume no sono yado ni oru shirotae wa oritekemu ka mo
- Next Poem
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Amanogawa kaji no oto kikoyu hikoboshi to tanabatatsume to koyoi aurashi mo