御輿岡いくその世々に年を経て
今日の行幸を待ちて見つらん
今日の行幸を待ちて見つらん
- Roma-ji
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Mikoshioka ikuso no yoyo ni toshi o hete kyō no miyuki o machite mitsuran
- English Translation
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Mikoshi Hill—
through how many ages
have your years gone by,
waiting for this royal visit
you behold today, I wonder
- Meaning
- Mikoshi Hill, Hill of the Palanquin—through how many ages have you passed your years, waiting to behold the royal progress of today?
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1132
Headnote: "In the same reign, on the royal progress to Kitano, at Mikoshioka."
The poet wonders through how many ages Mikoshioka has passed its years, waiting to see today's royal progress. Imagining that the hill named for the royal palanquin has long awaited the day it would greet the emperor's palanquin, he celebrates the glory of the progress.
According to the headnote, it was composed at Mikoshioka on the royal progress to Kitano in the same reign of Emperor Daigo as the preceding poem.
The poet, "the Biwa Minister of the Left," is Fujiwara no Nakahira. The second son of Fujiwara no Mototsune, he rose to Minister of the Left and was so called because he lived at the Biwa mansion.
The first line, "Mikoshioka," is the name of a hill at Kitano, and its name, recalling the emperor's palanquin, is the conceit of the poem.
The second line, "ikuso no yoyo ni," means "through how many ages," with "ikuso" asking after a great number.
The third line, "toshi o hete," means "passing the years."
The fourth line, "kyō no miyuki o," means "today's royal progress."
The last line, "machite mitsuran," means "must you be watching, having waited," with "ran" conjecture about the present. The hill is personified as one who has longed for the progress.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Nakahira
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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