我が宿のい笹群竹吹く風の
音のかそけきこの夕かも
音のかそけきこの夕かも
- Roma-ji
-
Waga yado no isasa muratake fuku kaze no oto no kasokeki kono yūbe kamo
- English Translation
-
In my own garden,
through the little bamboo grove
the wind is blowing,
and its sound so faint and soft—
ah, this evening hour
- Meaning
- Through the little cluster of bamboo in my garden the wind is blowing, its sound so faint—ah, this quiet evening.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen 4291
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed on impulse on the twenty-third day"
The second of the Three Poems of Spring Melancholy, it says: this evening, the sound of wind blowing through the small cluster of bamboo in my garden is so faint. Narrowing the view from the wide spring fields of the preceding poem to the bamboo of the poet's own garden, it depicts a world of stillness, listening to a faint sound.
The delicate beauty of hearing, symbolized by the word "kasokeki" (faint), is especially prized among Yakamochi's poems and forms the heart of the three.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. Appointed Junior Counselor in 751, he returned from Etchū to the capital at Heijō-kyō, where he took part in court banquets as an official. He is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
First line, "waga yado no" (in my garden), shifts from the spring fields of the preceding poem to a nearby place.
Second line, "isasa muratake" (the little cluster of bamboo): "isasa" means small or slight.
Third line, "fuku kaze no" (of the wind that blows), leads to the sound.
Fourth line, "oto no kasokeki" (so faint its sound): "kasokeshi" means faint.
Fifth line, "kono yūbe kamo" (ah, this evening): "kamo" is exclamatory, echoing "kono yūkage ni" in the preceding poem.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Haru no no ni kasumi tanabiki uraganashi kono yūkage ni uguisu naku mo
- Next Poem
-
Uraura ni tereru haruhi ni hibari agari kokoro kanashi mo hitori shi omoeba