あしひきの山下繁く行く水の
流れてかくし訪はばたのまむ
流れてかくし訪はばたのまむ
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yamashita shigeku yuku mizu no nagarete kaku shi towaba tanomamu
- English Translation
-
Below the mountain,
the foot-wearying mountain,
the water flows thick—
if you'll keep on coming so
through the years, I'll trust in you
- Meaning
- Like the water that flows ceaselessly at the foot of the mountain, if you will keep on visiting me like this for years to come, then I will put my trust in you.
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems V 935
Headnote: "Composed when a man sent a message to a woman he was secretly seeing."
The poet says that if he will keep on visiting like the water that flows ceaselessly at the mountain's foot, she will trust in him. Overlaying the constant flow of mountain water with constant visits, she tests his heart, setting the condition that if it lasts long she will believe him.
According to the headnote, a man sent a message to a woman he was secretly seeing, and this is her answer. The mountain stream in the upper half is a preface leading to "nagarete."
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Ashihiki no," is a pillow word for "yama," mountain.
The second line, "yamashita shigeku," means "ceaselessly at the mountain's foot."
The third line, "yuku mizu no," means "like the flowing water," and up to here forms a preface leading to "nagarete" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "nagarete kaku shi," means "as time flows on, like this," overlaying the flowing of water with the passing of time. "Shi" is an emphatic adverbial particle.
The last line, "towaba tanomamu," means "if you visit, I will trust you," with "mu" expressing intention.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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