朝烏早くな鳴きそ我が背子が
朝明の姿見れば悲しも
朝明の姿見れば悲しも
- Roma-ji
-
Asagarasu hayaku na naki so waga seko ga asake no sugata mireba kanashi mo
- English Translation
-
O morning crow,
do not cry so early;
my dear husband
leaving in the light of dawn,
to see him go is grief
- Meaning
- O morning crow, do not cry so early; it is sad to watch my beloved leave at dawn.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3095
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
A woman calls on the crow announcing dawn not to cry so soon, singing of the sadness of watching her lover leave at daybreak. Like the book's opening poem, 2841, it uses the phrase "waga seko ga asake no sugata" to sing of the sorrow of parting at dawn.
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, "asagarasu," means "the morning crow."
Line two, "hayaku na naki so," means "do not cry so early," with "na ... so" prohibitive. The crow's cry announced dawn and urged the man to leave. The poem pauses here.
Line three, "waga seko ga," is a woman's word for the man she loves.
Line four, "asake no sugata," means "his figure leaving at dawn"; together with line three it matches the first two lines of the book's opening poem, 2841.
Line five, "mireba kanashi mo," means "it is sad to see."
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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