大堰川浮かべる舟のかがり火に
をぐらの山も名のみなりけり
をぐらの山も名のみなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Ōigawa ukaberu fune no kagaribi ni Ogura no yama mo na nomi narikeri
- English Translation
-
On Ōi River
by the flares of boats that float
upon its waters,
Ogura, the dim mountain,
proves dim only in its name
- Meaning
- Lit by the flares of the boats floating on the Ōi River, Mount Ogura, the "dim" mountain, turns out to be dim in name alone.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1231
Headnote: "At a place called Ōi, on an occasion when people were drinking wine."
The poet says that, by the flares of the boats on the Ōi River, Mount Ogura is dim only in name. Joining Ogura with "ogurashi," dim, he praises the bright gaiety of the banquet through a mountain lit so that it is not dim at all.
According to the headnote, it was composed at a place called Ōi when people were drinking wine together.
The poet, "Lord Narihira," is Ariwara no Narihira. A son of Prince Abo and a younger half-brother of Ariwara no Yukihira, he was one of the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, and is taken as the model for the hero of the Tales of Ise.
The first line, "Ōigawa," is the Ōi River in Yamashiro, flowing at the foot of Mount Ogura in Saga.
The second line, "ukaberu fune no," means "of the boats set afloat."
The third line, "kagaribi ni," means "by the flares."
The fourth line, "Ogura no yama mo," is a pivot word joining the place name Ogura with "ogura," dim: even Mount Ogura, named for dimness.
The last line, "na nomi narikeri," means "is so in name alone," with "narikeri" for realization.
- Author
- Ariwara no Narihira
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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