雲居にて人を恋しと思ふかな
我は葦辺の鶴ならなくに
我は葦辺の鶴ならなくに
- Roma-ji
-
Kumoi nite hito o koishi to omou kana ware wa ashibe no tazu naranaku ni
- English Translation
-
High among the clouds
I find myself longing
for someone dear,
though I am not a crane
of the reed-grown shore
- Meaning
- Here among the clouds I find myself longing for you, though I am no crane from the reedy shore.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 576
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that, though he is no crane from the reedy shore, he finds himself longing for someone from a place as far away as among the clouds. He overlays a heart longing for someone beyond reach with the lot of cranes that cry high in the sky.
Drawing on the notion that cranes cry among the clouds, it expresses the longing of a love set far apart.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."
The first line, "Kumoi nite," means "here among the clouds," understood also to suggest the imperial court.
The second line, "hito o koishi to," means "that I long for someone."
In the third line, "kana" is an exclamatory particle: "how I think so!" The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "ware wa ashibe no," means "I, of the reed-grown shore."
In the last line, "naku ni" means "though I am not," drawing on the notion that cranes cry among the clouds.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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