露霜の消やすき我が身老いぬとも
またをちかへり君をし待たむ
またをちかへり君をし待たむ
- Roma-ji
-
Tsuyushimo no keyasuki aga mi oinu tomo mata ochikaeri kimi o shi matamu
- English Translation
-
Fragile as frost and dew,
this self of mine, though it grow old,
will turn again
to youth once more, and still
I will wait for you, my love
- Meaning
- Though this life of mine, as fragile as frost and dew, grows old, I will become young again and go on waiting for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3043
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
A woman vows that even if her fragile self, like frost and dew, grows old, she will grow young again and wait for her beloved. Her single-minded resolve to keep waiting even in old age contrasts with the fragility of frost and dew.
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, "tsuyushimo no," meaning "like frost and dew," is a pillow word for "ke," to vanish.
Line two, "keyasuki aga mi," means "my easily vanishing self."
Line three, "oinu tomo," means "even if I grow old."
Line four, "mata ochikaeri," means "growing young once more."
Line five, "kimi o shi matamu," means "I will wait for you," with "shi" emphatic, expressing a devotion that would go on waiting even in old age.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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