彦星の妻呼ぶ舟の引き綱の
絶えむと君を我が思はなくに
絶えむと君を我が思はなくに
- Roma-ji
-
Hikoboshi no tsuma yobu fune no hikizuna no taemu to kimi o waga omowanaku ni
- English Translation
-
Of the Herdsman Star,
on the boat that calls his wife,
like its towing rope—
"Will it break off?" of you, love,
never have I thought at all.
- Meaning
- Like the towrope of the boat by which the Herdsman calls his wife, I have never once thought that our bond might break.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2086
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
Taking as its preface the towrope of the Herdsman's boat, this poem vows unchanging love, saying the speaker has never thought their bond might break. The towrope in the upper lines leads into "taemu," to break, and the image of an easily snapped rope is reversed to show a bond that will never break. Like "the jeweled vine that never breaks" in 2078, it sings of an unbroken bond.
The first line, "of the Herdsman," names the boat's owner.
The second line, "the boat that calls his wife," is the same line as in 2075.
The third line, "like its towrope," with the upper lines forming a preface leading into "taemu."
The fourth line, "that it will break, of you," names the unthought fear.
In the last line, "waga omowanaku ni," "naku ni" is a nominalized negative with "ni": I do not think so at all.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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