宮人とならまほしきを女郎花
野辺より霧の立ち出でてぞ来る
野辺より霧の立ち出でてぞ来る
- Roma-ji
-
Miyabito to nara mahoshiki o ominaeshi nobe yori kiri no tachiidete zo kuru
- English Translation
-
To become one
who serves within the palace
is my wish, maiden flower—
yet from the fields only mist
rises and comes forth instead
- Meaning
- I long to become one who serves in the palace, O maiden flower, yet from the fields it is only the mist that rises and comes forth.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1199
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that she longs to serve in the palace, yet from the maiden-flower fields only mist rises and comes forth. Seeing a woman's lot in the maiden flower that stays in the fields, the poem seems to contrast one who wishes for court service but cannot leave the fields with the mist that rises freely from them.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.
The first line, "Miyabito to," means "as one who serves in the palace."
The second line, "nara mahoshiki o," means "I wish to become, yet," with "mahoshi" the auxiliary of desire and "o" concessive.
The third line, "ominaeshi," is the maiden flower, one of the seven flowers of autumn, whose name contains "woman," overlaying a woman's lot. It stands here as an address.
The fourth line, "nobe yori kiri no," means "from the fields, the mist," mist rising over the fields where the maiden flower blooms.
The last line, "tachiidete zo kuru," means "rises and comes forth," with "zo" closed by the attributive "kuru." Against the flower that cannot leave the fields, it is the mist that comes forth.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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