夕づく日さすや川辺に作る屋の
形をよろしみうべ寄そりけり
形をよろしみうべ寄そりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Yūzukuhi sasu ya kawabe ni tsukuru ya no kata o yoroshimi ube yosorikeri
- English Translation
-
Where the evening sun
falls slanting on the riverbank,
the house built there
is so fair in form and shape—
no wonder people link us so.
- Meaning
- The house built on the riverbank where the evening sun shines is so fair in form—no wonder everyone gossips and draws us together.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3820
Headnote: none; the left note reads: "Whenever Prince Kodai took up the koto on a banquet day, he would always first chant these two poems. This Prince Kodai was also called Okisome no Takumi."
Because the house built on the riverbank in the evening sun is so pleasing in form, the poet says, it is only natural that people gossip and draw them together. The house seems to stand for a lovely woman, and the poem appears to be a light piece fitting for a banquet.
According to the left note, whenever Prince Kodai took up the koto on a banquet day, he would always first chant this poem and the next. It also records that Prince Kodai was otherwise known as Okisome no Takumi.
Prince Kodai is a little-known figure whom the left note identifies as Okisome no Takumi; he may belong to the same clan as Okisome no Azumahito, named in a headnote in Book Three.
First line, "yūzukuhi," means "the evening sun." Like "yūdachi no" in the preceding poem, 3819, it opens with yū, "evening," so the two poems stand side by side in the dusk.
Second line, "sasu ya kawabe ni," means "on the riverbank where it shines." Ya is an interjectory particle that smooths the rhythm.
Third line, "tsukuru ya no," means "of the house built there."
Fourth line, "kata o yoroshimi," means "because its form is fair." The pattern noun + o + adjective stem + mi expresses cause.
Final line, "ube yosorikeri," means "no wonder we are linked." Ube signals agreement, and the exclamatory keri rounds off the poem.
- Author
- Prince Kodai (recited)
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Yūdachi no ame uchifureba Kasugano no obana ga ure no shiratsuyu omōyu
- Next Poem
-
Umashi mono izuku akaji o Sakatora ga tsuno no fukure ni shigui ainikemu