久方の天つみ空に照る月の
失せなむ日こそ我が恋止まめ
失せなむ日こそ我が恋止まめ
- Roma-ji
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Hisakata no amatsu misora ni teru tsuki no usenamu hi koso aga koi yamame
- English Translation
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In the far heavens,
in the wide and lofty sky,
the shining moon,
only on the day it vanishes
will my love come to an end
- Meaning
- Only on the day the moon shining in the vast heavens disappears will my love come to an end.
- Commentary
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Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3004
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poet vows an eternal love: only on the day the moon vanishes from the sky will this love end. Invoking something as great as the moon strongly impresses the eternity of love.
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, "hisakata no," is a pillow word for "ame," heaven.
Line two, "amatsu misora ni," means "in the heavenly sky."
Line three, "teru tsuki no," means "the shining moon."
Line four, "usenamu hi koso," means "only on the day it vanishes," forming a kakari-musubi with the realis "yamame" in line five.
Line five, "aga koi yamame," means "my love would cease," vowing that since the moon will never vanish, love will never end.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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