八釣川水底絶えず行く水の
継ぎてぞ恋ふるこの年ころを
継ぎてぞ恋ふるこの年ころを
- Roma-ji
-
Yatsurigawa minasoko taezu yuku mizu no tsugite zo kouru kono toshigoro o
- English Translation
-
In Yatsuri River
the water flowing endless
along the riverbed,
so without a break I long,
all through these many years
- Meaning
- Like the water flowing endlessly along the bed of the Yatsuri River, I have longed for you without a pause all through these years.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 2860
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poem overlays a love that has never ceased for years on the image of water flowing endlessly along a riverbed. A variant text gives the second line as "mio mo taesezu," "the channel never ceasing."
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet who served under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note shows that this poem was taken from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, though scholars differ on whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a song he recorded.
Line one, "Yatsurigawa," is thought to be a river flowing near Yatsuri in the village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture.
Line two, "minasoko taezu," means "unceasing along the riverbed."
Line three, "yuku mizu no": the lines up to here form an introduction that leads, through the unbroken flow, to "tsugite," continuously. Poem 3014 in this book likewise likens love to a river channel that never runs dry.
Line four, "tsugite zo kouru": "zo" is concluded by the attributive "kouru," emphasizing unbroken longing.
Line five, "kono toshigoro o," means "all through these years," showing how long the love has lasted.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Iso no ue ni ouru komatsu no na o oshimi hito ni shiraezu koiwataru kamo