行く水の瀬ごとにふまんあとゆゑに
頼むしるしをいづれとか見ん
頼むしるしをいづれとか見ん
- Roma-ji
-
Yuku mizu no segoto ni fuman ato yue ni tanomu shirushi o izure to ka min
- English Translation
-
Like tracks you leave
at every shallow of the stream
that flows along,
which of them, then, should I take
as proof that you trust in me
- Meaning
- Your tracks are left at every shallow of the flowing stream—so which of them should I take as the sign that you are truly counting on me?
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Love Poems II 696
Headnote: "Reply."
The poet asks which of the tracks he leaves at every shallow of the flowing stream she should take as the sign that he trusts in her. Taking up the plover's tracks of the preceding poem, she mocks his fickleness, saying she cannot tell which of the letters he scatters to many women is sincere.
It is a reply to the preceding poem, 695, taking up its "tanomu," "fumi," and "ato" to retort.
The poet, called "Ōtsubune" and written here with a variant spelling, was a woman known by that name, thought to be a lady-in-waiting's sobriquet. Few details of her life have come down to us.
The first line, "Yuku mizu no," means "of the flowing water."
In the second line, "fuma" is a pivot word joining "treading" the shallows and "fumi," a letter: "treading at every shallow."
In the third line, "ato" is a pivot word joining footprints and the trace of handwriting, taking up "ato" in the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "tanomu shirushi o," means "the sign that you trust in me," answering "tanomu o shire to" in the second line of the preceding poem.
The last line, "izure to ka min," means "which should I take it to be?" with "ka" an interrogative particle closing with the attributive "n," a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Ōtsubune
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hamachidori tanomu o shire to fumisomuru ato uchikesu na ware o kosu nami
- Next Poem
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Tsuma ni ouru kotonashigusa o miru kara ni tanomu kokoro zo kazu masarikeru