秋の夜を長しと言へど積もりにし
恋を尽せば短くありけり
恋を尽せば短くありけり
- Roma-ji
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Aki no yo o nagashi to iedo tsumorinishi koi o tsukuseba mijikaku arikeri
- English Translation
-
Of the autumn night,
people say that it is long,
but when I pour out
all the love that's piled so high,
oh, how short it was, indeed!
- Meaning
- They say the autumn night is long—but when I pour out all the love that has piled up, how short it proves to be!
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2303
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through the Night"
This poem says that the autumn night, said to be long, proves short when spent pouring out with the beloved the love that has piled up, and it closes the group on the night. Against the long autumn night of sleeping alone in the preceding poem, this one sings of the shortness of an autumn night with the beloved, contrasting how the same autumn night feels long or short depending on love's situation. It also stands in reversed relation of long and short to 1981 in the summer love poems, where even short nights are hard to pass sleeping alone.
The first line, "the autumn night," names the subject.
In the second line, "nagashi to iedo," "do" is adversative: though they say it is long.
In the third line, "tsumorinishi," "ni" marks completion and "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki": that has piled up.
The fourth line, "when I pour out my love," names the act.
In the last line, "mijikaku arikeri," "keri" expresses realization, closing with wonder at the night's brevity.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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