妹が門行き過ぎかねて草結ぶ
風吹き解くなまたかへり見む
風吹き解くなまたかへり見む
- Roma-ji
-
Imo ga kado yukisugikanete kusa musubu kaze fukitoku na mata kaerimimu
- English Translation
-
At my darling's gate
I cannot bring myself to pass,
and tie the grass;
wind, do not blow it loose,
for I will come back to see
- Meaning
- Unable to pass by my beloved's gate, I tie a knot of grass; wind, do not blow it loose, for I will come back to see it.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3056
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
Unable to pass the beloved's gate, the poet ties a knot of grass, asks the wind not to undo it, and vows to return. Tying grass was a charm for reunion, and the poem shows a heart reluctant to leave. A variant gives the last line as "tada ni au made ni."
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, "imo ga kado," means "my beloved's gate."
Line two, "yukisugikanete," means "unable to pass by."
Line three, "kusa musubu," means "I tie the grass," a charm for meeting again. The poem pauses here.
Line four, "kaze fukitoku na," means "wind, do not blow it loose," and the poem pauses again.
Line five, "mata kaerimimu," means "I will come back to see it."
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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