住吉の岸を田に墾り蒔きし稲
かくて刈るまで逢はぬ君かも
かくて刈るまで逢はぬ君かも
- Roma-ji
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Suminoe no kishi o ta ni hari makishi ine kakute karu made awanu kimi ka mo
- English Translation
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Suminoe's shore
cleared and broken for a field,
rice there that I sowed—
till it's reaped like this at last,
you have not come to meet me!
- Meaning
- The rice I sowed in the field I broke along the shore of Suminoe is now ready to reap—and still you have not come to meet me.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2244
Headnote: "Love Expressed Through the Paddy Fields"
This poem laments a beloved who has not come to meet through the long time from sowing rice in fields broken along the shore of Suminoe until the harvest. Its headnote is "Love Expressed Through the Paddy Fields." The long span of farm work from sowing to reaping shows the length of the days without meeting. Like 1902 in the spring love poems, where the beloved did not come until haze trailed and flowers bloomed, it shows the length of time apart through the season's progress.
The first line, "of Suminoe," names Suminoe in Settsu.
In the second line, "kishi o ta ni hari," "haru" means to break new ground.
In the third line, "makishi ine," "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki": the rice I sowed.
The fourth line, "until it is reaped like this," names the span.
In the last line, "awanu kimi ka mo," "ka mo" is exclamatory; it is the same ending as 1902, closing with a lament for the beloved who does not come.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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