大船を舳ゆも艫ゆも堅めてし
許曽の里人あらはさめかも
許曽の里人あらはさめかも
- Roma-ji
-
Ōbune o e yu mo tomo yu mo katameteshi koso no satobito arawasame kamo
- English Translation
-
A great ship's timbers
fastened firm from prow and stern,
so I bound them fast—
the village folk of Koso,
would they ever give us away?
- Meaning
- As a great ship is fastened firm from prow and stern, so I bound the people of Koso village to silence—would they ever give us away?
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3559
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
As a great ship is fastened firmly at prow and stern, the singer has bound the villagers of Koso to secrecy, so they will surely not reveal the lovers' secret. Care to guard a hidden love and lingering unease are both expressed.
It is one of the love exchanges. Koso is a place of unknown location.
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, "ōbune o": A great ship, leading to fastening firmly.
Second line, "e yu mo tomo yu mo": "E" is the prow and "tomo" the stern, with "yu" marking the starting point: from front and back. The line is hypermetric.
Third line, "katameteshi": "Having fastened it fast"; the first three lines lead almost as a preface to the binding of silence.
Fourth line, "koso no satobito": The villagers of Koso, a place of unknown location.
Final line, "arawasame kamo": "Arawasu" is to reveal a secret, and "me kamo" is rhetorical: would they give us away?
- Source
- Manyoshu
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