玉たすき懸けねば苦し懸けたれば
継ぎて見まくの欲しき君かも
継ぎて見まくの欲しき君かも
- Roma-ji
-
Tamadasuki kakeneba kurushi kaketareba tsugite mimaku no hoshiki kimi kamo
- English Translation
-
Like a jeweled sash,
not to wear you in my heart is pain,
yet when I do,
I want only to see you
again and again, my love
- Meaning
- Not to keep you in my heart is painful, yet when I do, I long to see you again and again.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 2992
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poem sings of love's contradiction: it hurts not to keep the beloved in mind, and when one does, one longs to meet again and again. Likening this to hanging a sash, the repetition of "kaku" is skillfully used.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.
Line one, "tamadasuki," is a pillow word for "kaku," to hang or keep in mind, as in poem 2898 in this book.
Line two, "kakeneba kurushi," means "it hurts not to keep you in mind," and the poem pauses here.
Line three, "kaketareba," means "but when I do," pairing with line two.
Line four, "tsugite mimaku no," means "seeing you again and again," "mimaku" being the nominalized form of "mimu."
Line five, "hoshiki kimi kamo," means "you whom I long for," depicting a love painful whether one thinks of the beloved or not.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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