雲居路のはるけきほどのそら事は
いかなる風の吹きて告げけん
いかなる風の吹きて告げけん
- Roma-ji
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Kumoiji no harukeki hodo no soragoto wa ika naru kaze no fukite tsugeken
- English Translation
-
Lies from far away,
far as the cloud-path stretches—
these empty tales,
what wind, I wonder, blew
and carried them to you
- Meaning
- These empty tales from a place as far away as the paths through the clouds—what wind could have blown them all the way to you?
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1141
Headnote: "I had sent my daughter off to Michinoku with a man; hearing that he had changed his heart, I sent word that I found it hateful."
The poet asks what wind blew and carried these empty tales from as far away as the paths of the clouds. Rebuked by his wife's parent for a change of heart, the man likens the rumors from distant Michinoku to wind across the sky and dismisses them as groundless lies.
According to the headnote, the parent had sent a daughter with a man to Michinoku and, hearing that he had changed his heart, sent word that it was hateful; the man appears to have composed this in response. The mother's reply follows in the next poem, forming an exchange.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Kumoiji no," means "of the paths through the clouds," likening the remoteness of Michinoku to a road in the sky.
The second line, "harukeki hodo no," means "from so far away."
The third line, "soragoto wa," means "lies," with "sora" joining groundless and sky, in keeping with "kumoi," clouds, in the first line.
The fourth line, "ika naru kaze no," means "what kind of wind," bringing in the wind in keeping with the sky.
The last line, "fukite tsugeken," means "blew and told you," with "ken" conjecture about a past cause.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Mukashi yori kurama no yama to iikeru wa waga goto hito mo yoru ya koeken
- Next Poem
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Amagumo no ukitaru koto to kikishikado nao zo kokoro wa sora ni narinishi