秋風の末吹き靡く萩の花
ともにかざさず相か別れむ
ともにかざさず相か別れむ
- Roma-ji
-
Akikaze no sue fukinabiku hagi no hana tomo ni kazasazu ai ka wakaremu
- English Translation
-
The autumn wind blows
and the tips of the bush clover
sway and bend away;
without wearing them together,
must we two now say farewell?
- Meaning
- The autumn wind sways the tips of the bush clover; must we part without ever wearing its flowers in our hair together?
- Commentary
-
Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4515
Headnote: "On the fifth day of the seventh month, a banquet at the residence of Ōhara no Imaki, junior assistant minister of Ceremonial, to send off Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Governor of Inaba; one poem."
The autumn wind sways the bush clover's tips; must we part without wearing its flowers together? The poem regrets parting before leaving for his post. According to the headnote, it comes from a banquet at Imaki's residence on the fifth of the seventh month of Tenpyō Hōji 2, given to see off Yakamochi, newly appointed Governor of Inaba. The left note attributes it to Yakamochi himself. He lays the loneliness of leaving the capital before the clover's prime over his parting from his close friend Imaki.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, had at this time been appointed Governor of Inaba.
The first line, "akikaze no," names the early autumn wind of the seventh month.
The second line, "sue fukinabiku," means "blowing the tips to sway."
The third line, "hagi no hana," the flower emblematic of autumn, ends the first sentence. Yakamochi often sings of bush clover in this book.
The fourth line, "tomo ni kazasazu," "without wearing them together," shows they cannot enjoy the clover's prime together.
The closing line, "ai ka wakaremu," uses the interrogative ka resolved by the attributive mu, ending in regret: must we part?
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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