我が宿をいつならしてか楢の葉を
ならし顔には折りにおこする
ならし顔には折りにおこする
- Roma-ji
-
Waga yado o itsu narashite ka nara no ha o narashigao ni wa ori ni okosuru
- English Translation
-
When was it you grew
so familiar with my house,
that for oak leaves
you send to break them off
with such familiar airs
- Meaning
- When did you ever grow so familiar with my house, that you send someone with such familiar airs to break off the oak leaves?
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1182
Headnote: "When the Biwa Minister of the Left needed oak leaves for some purpose and sent to fetch them from a house Chikane knew."
The poet asks when he grew so familiar with her house that he sends someone, with such an air of familiarity, to break off the oak leaves. To a minister who sent for oak leaves without knowing her, she displays her wit by repeating the sound "nara" while seeming to chide his familiarity.
According to the headnote, the Biwa Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Nakahira, needed oak leaves for some purpose and sent to fetch them from a house Fujiwara no Chikane knew, and the mistress of that house composed this. Nakahira's reply follows in the next poem, forming an exchange.
The poet, Toshiko, is said to have been the wife of Fujiwara no Chikane and also appears in the Tales of Yamato.
The first line, "Waga yado o," means "my house."
The second line, "itsu narashite ka," means "when did you grow familiar," with "narashi" echoing the "nara," oak, of the third line. "Ka" is an interrogative binding particle closed by the attributive "okosuru" in the last line.
The third line, "nara no ha o," means "oak leaves," taking up the oak leaves of the headnote. The next poem opens with the same words.
The fourth line, "narashigao ni wa," means "with a familiar air," a play on the repeated sound "nara."
The last line, "ori ni okosuru," means "do you send to break them," closing the "ka" of the second line.
- Author
- Toshiko
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Furusato no saho no kawamizu kyō mo nao kakute ause wa ureshikarikeri
- Next Poem
-
Nara no ha no hamori no kami no mashikeru o shirade zo orishi tatari nasaru na