玉櫛笥いつしか明けむ布勢の海の
浦を行きつつ玉も拾はむ
浦を行きつつ玉も拾はむ
- Roma-ji
-
Tamakushige itsushika akemu fuse no umi no ura o yukitsutsu tama mo hiriwamu
- English Translation
-
Like a jeweled box,
when will the night open into dawn?
Along Fuse's sea,
walking all along the bay,
I will gather jewels too.
- Meaning
- How I wish the night would open into dawn! Walking along the shore of the sea of Fuse, I will gather beautiful stones as well.
- Commentary
-
Book Eighteen 4038
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "At that time it was agreed to go sightseeing on the lagoon of Fuse the next day, and so each expressed his feelings in a poem."
The poet longs for dawn to come so that he can walk the shore of the sea of Fuse and gather beautiful stones, expressing his impatience for the next day's outing. After Yakamochi's answer, his anticipation for the unseen Fuse Bay has grown even stronger.
Tanabe no Sakimaro was a clerk in the Office of Sake Brewing who came to Etchū as the messenger of the Minister of the Left, Tachibana no Moroe. He was a poet of the late Man'yō period, skilled at long poems in praise of the court.
According to the left note, the five poems from this one through 4042 are by Sakimaro.
First line, "tamakushige": a beautiful box for combs; because its lid is opened ("akeru"), it serves as a pillow word for "ake," the dawning. It echoes "tama" in the last line.
Second line, "itsushika akemu": "itsushika" expresses the wish "may it soon be," corresponding with "mu." It shows impatience for dawn, and the poem pauses after the second line.
Third line, "Fuse no umi no": taking up the "Cape of Ofu" and the "bay" of the preceding poem, it names the sea of Fuse, the destination of the outing.
Fourth line, "ura o yukitsutsu": "tsutsu" marks continuation, walking on and on along the shore.
Last line, "tama mo hiriwamu": "tama" are pretty pebbles or shells gathered as keepsakes of a journey. "Mu" is an auxiliary of intention. The poem ends by sounding again the "tama" of the pillow word in the first line.
- Author
- Tanabe no Sakimaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Ofu no saki kogi tamotori hinemosu ni mi tomo akubeki ura ni aranaku ni
- Next Poem
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Oto nomi ni kikite me ni minu fuse no ura o mizu wa noboraji toshi wa henu tomo