我妹子し我を偲ふらし草枕
旅のまろ寝に下紐解けぬ
旅のまろ寝に下紐解けぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Wagimoko shi a o shinofurashi kusamakura tabi no marone ni shitabimo tokenu
- English Translation
-
My darling girl
must be thinking of me now,
for as I lie
in my clothes upon the road,
my under-sash came loose
- Meaning
- My beloved must be thinking of me, for as I slept in my clothes on the road, my under-sash came undone of itself.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Thoughts Arising on Journeys 3145
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thoughts Arising on Journeys"
The poet takes it as a sign that his wife is thinking of him when his under-sash comes undone of itself as he sleeps in his clothes on the road. It rests on the folk belief that a sash loosening by itself meant one was being thought of.
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, "wagimoko shi," means "my darling," with "shi" emphatic.
Line two, "a o shinofurashi," means "must be thinking of me," and the poem pauses here.
Line three, "kusamakura," is a pillow word for "tabi," journey.
Line four, "tabi no marone ni," means "as I slept in my clothes on the journey."
Line five, "shitabimo tokenu," means "my under-sash came undone." Poem 2851 in this book also draws on beliefs about the under-sash.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Tabi no yo no hisashiku nareba sanitsurau himo tokisakezu kouru konogoro
- Next Poem
-
Kusamakura tabi no koromo no himo tokete omōyuru kamo kono toshigoro wa