筑波嶺に雪かも降らるいなをかも
愛しき子ろが布乾さるかも
愛しき子ろが布乾さるかも
- Roma-ji
-
Tsukubane ni yuki kamo furaru ina o kamo kanashiki koro ga nino hosaru kamo
- English Translation
-
On Mount Tsukuba
has the snow come falling down?
Or is it not so?
Is it my beloved girl
who has spread her cloth to dry?
- Meaning
- Has snow fallen on Mount Tsukuba? Or is it not that? Is it my darling girl who has hung her cloth out to dry?
- Commentary
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Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3351
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Azuma Poems"
Seeing something white on Mount Tsukuba, the singer wonders whether it is snow or cloth hung out by the girl he loves. Laying the image of her at work over the whiteness of the mountain, the poem cheerfully shows a heart that thinks of her even from afar.
The left note reads "The two poems above are from Hitachi Province," pairing this with the preceding poem. Likening white cloth to snow recalls Empress Jitō's poem in Book One about white robes drying on Mount Kagu.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.
First line, "tsukubane ni": Again Mount Tsukuba, but where the preceding poem began "Tsukubane no," this one begins with "ni," marking a place.
Second line, "yuki kamo furaru": "Kamo" is interrogative, and "furaru" is an eastern dialect form of "fureru." The singer first asks whether it is snow.
Third line, "ina o kamo": A self-questioning phrase meaning "or is it not so?" It cancels the first guess and turns to another view, serving as the hinge of the poem.
Fourth line, "kanashiki koro ga": The "ro" of "koro" is an eastern dialect suffix of endearment. "Kanashiki" means dear, carrying tender feeling for the girl.
Final line, "nino hosaru kamo": "Nino" is the eastern word for cloth, and "hosaru" is a dialect form of "hoseru." Repeating "kamo," the poem ends by setting the two views, snow and cloth, side by side.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Tsukubane no niiguwa mayo no kinu wa aredo kimi ga mikeshi shi ayani kihoshimo
- Next Poem
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Shinanu naru suga no arano ni hototogisu naku koe kikeba toki suginikeri