木綿だすきかけても言ふな
あだ人のあふひてふ名は禊にぞせし
あだ人のあふひてふ名は禊にぞせし
- Roma-ji
-
Yūdasuki kakete mo iu na adabito no aoi chō na wa misogi ni zo seshi
- English Translation
-
Like a sacred sash,
never hang such words on me;
from a fickle man
that name aoi, day of meeting,
I have washed away in rites
- Meaning
- Do not say such things, not even in passing, as one hangs a sacred sash. That name, aoi, "the day we meet," from a fickle man—I have washed it away in purification.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Summer Poems 162
Headnote: "Reply."
To the man who in the preceding poem said he set his hopes on aoi, "the day we meet," she replies: do not say that even in passing, for that name from a fickle man I have washed away in purification. Invoking the purification rites tied to the festival, she firmly rejects his words.
It forms an exchange with the preceding poem, 161.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Yūdasuki," is a sash of bark fiber worn during sacred rites and a pillow word leading to "kake," to hang. It is a word suited to the rites of the Kamo Festival.
In the second line, "kakete mo" means "even in passing," taking up "kakete zo tanomu" in the preceding poem. "Na" expresses prohibition, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "adabito no," means "of a fickle man," pointing to the suitor.
In the fourth line, "aoi" is a pivot word joining hollyhock and "the day of meeting," taking up the last line of the preceding poem, "aoi chō na o," unchanged.
The last line, "misogi ni zo seshi," means "I made it into a purification, washed it away," with the particle "zo" forming a kakarimusubi pattern with "shi," the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Yukikaeru yasoujibito no tamakazura kakete zo tanomu aoi chō na o
- Next Poem
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Kono goro wa samidare chikami hototogisu omoimidarete nakanu hi zo naki