音もせずなりもゆくかな鈴鹿山
越ゆてふ名のみ高く立ちつつ
越ゆてふ名のみ高く立ちつつ
- Roma-ji
-
Oto mo sezu nari mo yuku kana suzukayama koyu chō na nomi takaku tachitsutsu
- English Translation
-
No sound comes from you,
and so it goes on fading—
Mount Suzuka's bells—
only the name that we have crossed
rises high and higher still
- Meaning
- No sound comes from you, as if Mount Suzuka's bells had fallen silent, and you fade away; only the rumor that we have crossed that mountain together rises ever higher.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1040
Headnote: "Composed when a man stopped calling on her."
The poet laments that no sound comes from him as he drifts away, while only the rumor that they have crossed Mount Suzuka rises ever higher. Letting the "suzu," bells, of Suzuka echo with "oto," sound, she reproaches him: only the rumor that they are lovers spreads, while his visits fade away.
According to the headnote, she composed it when the man stopped visiting, and his reply is placed in the next poem, 1041. 1028 in this book also speaks of love through the word "koyu," to cross.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Oto mo sezu," means "with no sound," an associated word with the "suzu," bells, of Suzuka in the third line.
The second line, "nari mo yuku kana," means "how it goes on becoming so," and the poem pauses here. It is the same phrase as the last line of 1025 in this book.
The third line, "suzukayama," is the mountain on the border of Ise and Ōmi, whose "suzu" echoes "oto" in the first line. It appears again in the third line of the next poem.
The fourth line, "koyu chō na nomi," means "only the name that we have crossed," overlaying the crossing of Mount Suzuka with their becoming lovers.
The last line, "takaku tachitsutsu," means "rising ever high," overlaying the rising of rumor with the towering mountain. "Tsutsu" marks continuation.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Akazu shite makura no ue ni wakarenishi yumeji o mata mo tazunete shigana
- Next Poem
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Koenu chō na o na uramiso suzukayama itodo machikaku naran to omou o