我が背子が言うるはしみ出でて行かば
裳引きしるけむ雪な降りそね
裳引きしるけむ雪な降りそね
- Roma-ji
-
Waga seko ga koto uruwashimi idete yukaba mobiki shirukemu yuki na furi so ne
- English Translation
-
For my dearest's words
are so sweet, if I go forth,
trailing of my skirt
would show plainly on the snow—
snow, I beg you, do not fall!
- Meaning
- If I go out, drawn by my beloved's sweet words, the trail of my skirt will show plainly—O snow, please do not fall.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Winter Love Poems 2343
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Snow"
This poem asks the snow not to fall, since if the speaker goes out to meet the beloved, drawn by his sweet words, the trail of her skirt on the snow will clearly remain and be noticed. The struggle between the heart that wishes to go to the beloved and the heart that fears being known shows in the concrete image of a skirt's trail on the snow.
The first line, "waga seko ga," uses a woman's word for her beloved.
In the second line, "koto uruwashimi," "uruwashi" means delightful and "mi" marks cause.
The third line, "if I go out," is hypermetric.
In the fourth line, "mobiki shirukemu," "mobiki" is the trail of a skirt's hem and "shirushi" means plain.
The last line, "yuki na furi so ne," uses "na ... so" for prohibition and "ne" for a plea, closing with a request that the snow not fall.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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