松の木の並みたる見れば家人の
我れを見送ると立たりしもころ
我れを見送ると立たりしもころ
- Roma-ji
-
Matsu no ke no namitaru mireba iwabito no ware o miokuru to tatarishi mokoro
- English Translation
-
When I see the pines
standing in a line like that
they look just the same
as my family standing
in a row to see me off
- Meaning
- When I see the pine trees standing in a row, they look just like my family lined up to see me off.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4375
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems of the frontier guards sent in rotation to the provinces of Tsukushi in the second month of Tenpyō Shōhō 7, year of the wood sheep."
The pines standing in a row look just like my family lined up to see me off: the poem finds the faces of his family in a scene along the road. It is the third poem from Shimotsuke, and like the first two it is by a squad leader. After the brave poems before it, it shows a simple heart moved to think of family by a chance sight on the way. Matsu no ke for matsu no ki and iwabito for iebito are eastern forms.
The author, Mononobe no Mashima, is recorded as a squad leader from Shimotsuke; nothing more is known of him.
The first line, "matsu no ke no," refers to pine trees along the road, the scenery of the journey.
The second line, "namitaru mireba," means "when I see them standing in a row."
The third line, "iwabito no," means the people of his household, his family.
The fourth line, "ware o miokuru to," "to see me off," recalls his family on the day of departure.
The closing line, "tatarishi mokoro," uses mokoro, "just like," ending: exactly as they stood in a row.
- Author
- Mononobe no Mashima
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Ametsuchi no kami o inorite satsuya nuki Tsukushi no shima o sashite iku ware wa
- Next Poem
-
Tabiyuki ni yuku to shirazute amoshishi ni koto mausazute ima zo kuyashike