白露と秋萩とには恋ひ乱れ
別くことかたき我が心かも
別くことかたき我が心かも
- Roma-ji
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Shiratsuyu to akihagi to ni wa koimidare waku koto kataki aga kokoro ka mo
- English Translation
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For the silver dew
and the autumn clover too
love has left me torn—
hard it is to choose between,
oh, this restless heart of mine!
- Meaning
- Torn in love between the white dew and the autumn bush clover, my heart cannot tell which it loves more.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2171
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Dew"
This poem sings of a heart drawn to both the white dew and the autumn bush clover, unable to decide which is better. Likening the heart disturbed by beautiful scenery to love, it praises the beauty of the pairing of dew and clover. Like 2120, which resolved not to exhaust one's love for the bush clover, it expresses attachment to seasonal scenery as love.
The first line, "the white dew and," names one object.
The second line, "and the autumn bush clover," names the other and is hypermetric.
The third line, "torn with love," describes the heart.
In the fourth line, "waku koto kataki," "waku" means to distinguish: hard to tell apart.
In the last line, "aga kokoro ka mo," "ka mo" is exclamatory, closing with a sigh at the troubled heart.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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