国々の防人集ひ船乗りて
別るを見ればいともすべなし
別るを見ればいともすべなし
- Roma-ji
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Kuniguni no sakimori tsudoi funanorite wakaru o mireba itomo subenashi
- English Translation
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From province on province
the frontier guards gather and
board the waiting ships;
when I see them part and go
there is nothing I can do
- Meaning
- Guards from all the provinces gather and board the ships; when I see them parting, I am helpless with grief.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4381
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."
Guards from every province gather and board the ships; when I see them part, I am helpless: the poem sings of the grief of the moment of sailing. It is the ninth poem from Shimotsuke. Rather than his own parting alone, it takes in the scene of guards gathered from many provinces parting all at once, sharing in their grief.
The author, Kamuomibe no Shimamaro, is recorded as a regular guard from Kawachi District in Shimotsuke; nothing more is known of him.
The first line, "kuniguni no," "of the provinces," refers to guards gathered from all quarters.
The second line, "sakimori tsudoi," means "the guards gathering at Naniwa."
The third line, "funanorite," "boarding the ships," shows the moment of departure.
The fourth line, "wakaru o mireba," means "when I see them part."
The closing line, "itomo subenashi," "there is nothing to be done," laments with the same words as "itomo subenami" two poems before.
- Author
- Kamuomibe no Shimamaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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