波の共靡く玉藻の片思に
我が思ふ人の言の繁けく
我が思ふ人の言の繁けく
- Roma-ji
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Nami no muta nabiku tamamo no katamoi ni waga omou hito no koto no shigekeku
- English Translation
-
Like the jeweled weed
that sways along with every wave,
in one-sided love
I long for one, and oh, how thick
the talk around that one
- Meaning
- Like the seaweed swaying one way with the waves, I love in one-sided longing, and how thick the gossip is around the one I love.
- Commentary
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Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3078
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
Using seaweed swaying one way with the waves as an introduction, the poet laments the gossip surrounding the one loved in vain. It depicts the irony of rumors flying even though the love is one-sided.
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, "nami no muta," means "along with the waves."
Line two, "nabiku tamamo no," means "like the swaying seaweed," and the lines up to here form an introduction leading, through swaying one way, to "katamoi," one-sided love.
Line three, "katamoi ni," means "in one-sided love," read "katamoi" in the kana line.
Line four, "waga omou hito no," means "of the one I love."
Line five, "koto no shigekeku," means "how thick the talk," the same form of exclamation as "koi no shigekeku" in poem 2876 in this book.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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