堀江漕ぐ伊豆手の舟の楫つくめ
音しば立ちぬ水脈早みかも
音しば立ちぬ水脈早みかも
- Roma-ji
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Horie kogu izute no fune no kajitsukume oto shiba tachinu mio hayami kamo
- English Translation
-
On the Horie
the Izu-built boats row on,
and their oar-pins creak,
sounding over and again;
is it that the flow runs fast?
- Meaning
- The oars of the Izu-built boats rowing along the Horie creak again and again; could it be that the current runs swift?
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4460
Headnote: none. The left note reads: "The above three poems were composed on the banks of the inlet."
The oars of the Izu-built boats rowing the Horie creak again and again; is the current swift? The poem sings of a scene on the Horie canal at Naniwa. The left note says it is the first of three poems composed on the banks of the inlet. No author is named, but from the arrangement it is attributed to Ōtomo no Yakamochi. Taking up the oar sounds of the preceding poem, he gauges the force of the water from the sound of boats rowing against the current.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.
The first line, "Horie kogu," "rowing the Horie," is the same scene as the second line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "izute no fune no," "the Izu-built boats," is a word Yakamochi also used in his frontier guard poems in this book.
The third line, "kajitsukume," is thought to name part of an oar, though its details are unclear.
The fourth line, "oto shiba tachinu," "the sound rose often," ends the first sentence.
The closing line, "mio hayami kamo," uses mi of cause, wondering: is it because the current is swift?
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Ashikari ni Horie kogu naru kaji no oto wa ōmiyabito no mina kiku made ni
- Next Poem
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Horie yori mio sakanoboru kaji no oto no ma naku zo Nara wa koishikarikeru