高円の峰の上の宮は荒れぬとも
立たしし君の御名忘れめや
立たしし君の御名忘れめや
- Roma-ji
-
Takamato no o no ue no miya wa arenu tomo tatashishi kimi no mina wasureme ya
- English Translation
-
On Takamato's height
though the palace on the peak
has gone to ruin,
the name of our great lord
who stood there, could we forget?
- Meaning
- Though the palace on the heights of Takamato has fallen to ruin, could we ever forget the name of the lord who once stood there?
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4507
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems composed as each, moved by the mood, thought of the site of the detached palace at Takamato."
Though the palace on Takamato's heights has fallen to ruin, could we forget the name of the lord who stood there? A poem of unchanging remembrance for Emperor Shōmu. The left note attributes it to Ōhara no Imaki, junior assistant minister of Ceremonial. Using almost the same lines as Yakamochi's preceding poem, it answers the lament over decay: his name we will never forget.
The author, Ōhara no Imaki, a member of the Ōhara clan, was at this time junior assistant minister of Ceremonial.
The first line, "Takamato no," is the same as that of the preceding poem.
The second line, "o no ue no miya wa," recasts "no no ue no miya wa," "the palace on the plain," naming the same palace.
The third line, "arenu tomo," "even though it has gone to ruin," takes up "arenikeri" as a concessive supposition.
The fourth line, "tatashishi kimi no," is the same as the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The closing line, "mina wasureme ya," uses meya rhetorically: could we forget his name? Never. It answers the preceding lament.
- Author
- Ōhara no Imaki
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Takamato no no no ue no miya wa arenikeri tatashishi kimi no miyo tōsokeba
- Next Poem
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Takamato no nobe hau kuzu no sue tsui ni chiyo ni wasuremu waga ōkimi kamo