ふたほがみ悪しけ人なりあたゆまひ
我がする時に防人にさす
我がする時に防人にさす
- Roma-ji
-
Futahogami ashike hito nari atayumai waga suru toki ni sakimori ni sasu
- English Translation
-
Futahogami
is a wicked man indeed;
just when I was laid
low with sudden illness, he
named me as a frontier guard
- Meaning
- Futahogami is a wicked man. Just when I was struck by a sudden illness, he named me as a frontier guard.
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4382
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."
Futahogami is a wicked man, naming me a guard just when I was struck with sudden illness: the poem openly voices discontent at conscription. It is the tenth poem from Shimotsuke. Among guard poems mostly lamenting partings or declaring resolve, it is a rare one that frankly states resentment against the one who chose him. Who futahogami refers to is unknown; some take it to mean a provincial official. Ashike is a dialect form of ashiki.
The author, Ōtomobe no Hironari, is recorded as a regular guard from Nasu District in Shimotsuke; nothing more is known of him.
The first line, "futahogami," seems to refer to a person, but its meaning is unknown.
The second line, "ashike hito nari," "is a wicked man," ends the first sentence.
The third line, "atayumai," thought to mean a sudden illness, refers to the time he lay sick.
The fourth line, "waga suru toki ni," means "when I had it."
The closing line, "sakimori ni sasu," "names me a guard," states afterward, by inversion, the cause of his resentment.
- Author
- Ōtomobe no Hironari
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Kuniguni no sakimori tsudoi funanorite wakaru o mireba itomo subenashi
- Next Poem
-
Tsu no kuni no umi no nagisa ni funayosoi tashidemo toki ni amo ga me mo ga mo