妹が門いや遠そきぬ筑波山
隠れぬほとに袖は振りてな
隠れぬほとに袖は振りてな
- Roma-ji
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Imo ga kado iya tōsokinu tsukubayama kakurenu hoto ni sode wa furitena
- English Translation
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At my darling's gate—
it grows farther and farther:
Mount Tsukuba
before it is hidden from sight,
let me wave my sleeve to her.
- Meaning
- My darling's gate falls farther and farther behind. Before it hides behind Mount Tsukuba, let me wave my sleeve.
- Commentary
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Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3389
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
After setting out, the singer watches his beloved's gate fall farther behind and resolves to wave his sleeve before it vanishes behind Mount Tsukuba. The reluctance of a traveler looking back as he goes is drawn together with the shape of the mountain.
It is one of the Hitachi poems. Waving the sleeve at parting was thought to have a magical power to call the soul, and it appears often in the Man'yōshū.
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, "imo ga kado": The gate of his beloved's house; the poem begins from the viewpoint of one looking back as he leaves.
Second line, "iya tōsokinu": "Soku" means to move away, and "nu" marks completion. The poem pauses here.
Third line, "tsukubayama": Mount Tsukuba, following "Tsukubane" in the preceding poem, here appears as what will hide the gate.
Fourth line, "kakurenu hoto ni": "Hoto" is an eastern form of "hodo": before it is hidden.
Final line, "sode wa furitena": "Te na" marks completion and intention: let me wave my sleeve now.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Tsukubane no nero ni kasumi i sugikate ni ikizuku kimi o inete yarasane
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Tsukubane ni kaka naku washi no ne nomi o ka nakiwatarinamu au to wa nashi ni