鳴く鶏はいやしき鳴けど降る雪の
千重に積めこそ我が立ちかてね
千重に積めこそ我が立ちかてね
- Roma-ji
-
Naku tori wa iyashiki nakedo furu yuki no chie ni tsume koso waga tachikatene
- English Translation
-
The crowing cock
calls again and yet again,
but the falling snow
lies heaped a thousandfold, and so
I cannot rise to leave
- Meaning
- The cock crows on and on, but it is because the falling snow has piled up a thousandfold that I cannot bring myself to leave.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen 4234
Headnote: "A poem by the Governor, Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi, in response"
Answering Nawamaro, who urged his guests to stay in the preceding poem, Yakamochi says that though the cock crows again and again, it is because the snow lies so many layers deep that he cannot bring himself to leave. Citing the snow as his reason, he in fact conveys that the pleasure of the banquet keeps him there—a courteous response.
Accepting the host's pretext of the snow and returning it, he expresses his enjoyment of the banquet and gratitude for the host's kindness.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. From 746 he served as Governor of Etchū, living at the provincial headquarters in what is now Fushiki, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. He is regarded as the leading poet of the Nara period and is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
First line, "naku tori wa" (the crowing cock), takes up "though the cock crows" from the preceding poem.
Second line, "iyashiki nakedo" (though it crows again and again): "iyashiku" means ever more frequently, linking on with the concessive "do."
Third line, "furu yuki no" (of the falling snow), takes up "the snow spread all around" of the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "chie ni tsume koso" (precisely because it lies fold on fold): the realis with "koso" stresses the reason.
Fifth line, "waga tachikatene" (I cannot bring myself to rise): "katsu" means to be able, and the negative realis "ne" concludes "koso."
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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