上つ毛野安蘇のま麻むらかき抱き
寝れど飽かぬをあどか我がせむ
寝れど飽かぬをあどか我がせむ
- Roma-ji
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Kamitsuke no aso no masomura kakimudaki nuredo akanu o ado ka a ga semu
- English Translation
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In Kamitsuke,
like the hemp in bundles at Aso
I clasp her close,
yet though we sleep, I am not sated—
what am I to do with myself?
- Meaning
- As one hugs the bundled hemp of Aso in Kamitsuke, I hold her close and sleep, yet I am never satisfied—what am I to do?
- Commentary
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Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3404
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Holding his beloved as one clasps a bundle of Aso hemp, the singer is never sated though they sleep together, and he asks what he is to do. Through the physical feel of hemp harvesting, an endless love is sung frankly.
It is one of the Kōzuke poems. Aso lay near the border of Kōzuke and Shimotsuke, thought to be near present-day Sano in Tochigi, and was known for hemp.
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, "kamitsuke no": The old name of Kōzuke; this opening is often used in the Kōzuke poems.
Second line, "aso no masomura": "Masomura" is a stand of hemp, or bundles of cut hemp.
Third line, "kakimudaki": "Kaki" is a prefix and "mudaku" means to hold in one's arms. The first three lines form a preface.
Fourth line, "nuredo akanu o": "Though we sleep, I am not satisfied," with "o" concessive.
Final line, "ado ka a ga semu": "Ado" is an eastern "how," and "ka" asks a question.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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