度会の大川の辺の若久木
我が久ならば妹恋ひむかも
我が久ならば妹恋ひむかも
- Roma-ji
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Watarai no ōkawa no he no wakahisagi waga hisa naraba imo koimu kamo
- English Translation
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By the great river
at Watarai there grows
a young hisagi;
if I'm away so long,
will my darling long for me
- Meaning
- Like the young hisagi tree by the great river at Watarai, if my journey grows long, will my beloved pine for me?
- Commentary
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Book Twelve Thoughts Arising on Journeys 3127
Headnote: "Thoughts Arising on Journeys"
From his travels at Watarai in Ise, the poet wonders whether his wife at home will pine for him if the journey grows long. The headnote, "Thoughts Arising on Journeys," marks a category of poems voicing thoughts that arise while traveling, and the four poems beginning with this one are from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet who served under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note shows that this poem was taken from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, though scholars differ on whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a song he recorded.
Line one, "Watarai no," refers to Watarai in Ise Province, around present-day Ise City, Mie Prefecture.
Line two, "ōkawa no he no," means "by the great river."
Line three, "wakahisagi," a young hisagi tree, and the lines up to here form an introduction leading through the sound "hisa" to "hisa," long.
Line four, "waga hisa naraba," means "if my journey grows long."
Line five, "imo koimu kamo," means "will my wife long for me?", thinking from afar of the wife at home.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Makimuku no Anashi no yama ni kumo itsutsu ame wa furedomo nuretsutsu zo koshi
- Next Poem
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Wagimoko o ime ni mie ko to Yamatoji no watarize goto ni tamuke zo waga suru