夕霧に千鳥の鳴きし佐保路をば
荒しやしてむ見るよしをなみ
荒しやしてむ見るよしをなみ
- Roma-ji
-
Yūgiri ni chidori no nakishi Sahoji o ba arashi ya shitemu miru yoshi o nami
- English Translation
-
In the evening mist
where the plovers used to cry
the road of Saho,
shall I leave it to grow wild,
with no way to see her now?
- Meaning
- The Saho road where plovers cried in the evening mist, shall I let it go to ruin, now that there is no way to see her?
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4477
Headnote: "A poem composed in grief by Princess Matokata after the death of Princess Chinu."
Shall I let the Saho road where plovers cried in the evening mist go to ruin, with no way to see her now? A poem mourning the death of Princess Chinu. According to the headnote, Princess Matokata composed it in grief after Princess Chinu died. The left note says this and the following three poems were recited and passed on by Ōhara no Imaki, senior secretary of the Ministry of Military Affairs, apparently presented as old poems at a banquet. It laments that the Saho road she used to travel to the departed will fall to ruin with no one going there.
The author, Princess Matokata, is thought to be a daughter of Prince Nagaya. Little is known of Princess Chinu.
The first line, "yūgiri ni," "in the evening mist," gives the scene of Saho.
The second line, "chidori no nakishi," "where plovers cried," names the plovers of the Saho River often sung in the Man'yōshū.
The third line, "Sahoji o ba," names the road through Saho in Nara, the way to the departed.
The fourth line, "arashi ya shitemu," with the interrogative ya: shall I leave it to ruin? The poem pauses here.
The closing line, "miru yoshi o nami," uses mi of cause, adding by inversion the reason: there is no way to see her.
- Author
- Princess Matokata
- Source
- Manyoshu
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