万代にかからん露を女郎花
何思ふとかまだき濡るらん
何思ふとかまだき濡るらん
- Roma-ji
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Yorozuyo ni kakaran tsuyu o ominaeshi nani omou to ka madaki nururan
- English Translation
-
Dew that would cling on
for ten thousand ages long—
O maiden flower,
what can you be thinking of,
to be drenched so soon already
- Meaning
- This dew should cling to you for ten thousand ages, maiden flower—what are you thinking, to be wet so soon?
- Commentary
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Book Six Autumn Poems II 282
Headnote: "Reply."
She replies that the dew should cling for ten thousand ages, so why is the maiden flower already wet so soon? She lightly chides his haste in pleading tears already, when theirs is a bond meant to last long.
It forms an exchange with the preceding poem, 281. From 281 to 284, four poems exchanged between the Minister of the Right, Fujiwara no Morosuke, and Taifu follow one another.
The poet, called "Taifu," was a lady-in-waiting said to have been a daughter of Minamoto no Tasuku. She is thought to have served Fujiwara no Yasuko, empress of Emperor Daigo, and exchanged many poems with the brothers Fujiwara no Saneyori and Morosuke, among others.
The first line, "Yorozuyo ni," means "for ten thousand ages," showing a bond meant to last long.
In the second line, "kakaru" means for dew to cling, and "n" is the attributive form of the conjectural auxiliary "mu." It takes up "tsuyukeki" in the preceding poem.
The third line, "ominaeshi," calls out to the maiden flower, answering with the same word as the third line of the preceding poem.
In the fourth line, "ka" is an interrogative particle: "thinking what."
In the last line, "madaki" means "already, too soon," and "ran," the attributive form of an auxiliary conjecturing a cause, completes the kakarimusubi pattern with "ka" in the fourth line. It takes up "sode sae nururu" in the preceding poem, and the next poem, 283, answers with "madaki nuru to mo."
- Author
- Taifu
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Orite miru sode sae nururu ominaeshi tsuyukeki mono to ima ya shiruran
- Next Poem
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Oki akasu tsuyu no yonayona henikereba madaki nuru to mo omowazarikeri