さを鹿の朝伏す小野の草若み
隠らひかねて人に知らゆな
隠らひかねて人に知らゆな
- Roma-ji
-
Saoshika no asa fusu ono no kusa wakami kakuraikanete hito ni shirayu na
- English Translation
-
Where the stag lies down
in the morning on the moor,
the young grass so short,
unable to hide himself—
don't let others come to know!
- Meaning
- Like the stag lying in the morning field whose young grass is too short to hide him—don't let others find out about us.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2267
Headnote: "Love Expressed Through Deer"
This poem warns that their love must not become known to others, as the stag lying in the morning field cannot hide because the grass is still young and short. Its headnote is "Love Expressed Through Deer." It overlays the danger of a love that cannot be hidden on the deer unable to hide in young grass. The deer sung in the group on the calling of deer in the miscellaneous poems here becomes a figure for secret love.
The first line, "of the stag," names the animal.
The second line, "the field where he lies in the morning," names the place.
In the third line, "kusa wakami," "mi" marks cause: since the grass is young. The upper lines form a preface leading into "kakuraikanete."
The fourth line, "unable to hide," names the danger.
In the last line, "hito ni shirayu na," "yu" is passive and "na" prohibitive: do not be known by others.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Idete inaba amatobu kari no nakinubemi kyō kyō to iu ni toshi zo henikeru
- Next Poem
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Saoshika no ono no kusabushi ichishiroku waga towanaku ni hito no shireraku