あらたまの年立ち返る朝より
待たるるものは鶯の声
待たるるものは鶯の声
- Roma-ji
-
Aratama no toshi tachikaeru ashita yori mataruru mono wa uguisu no koe
- English Translation
-
From the very dawn
on which the year of new jewels
returns once again,
what I find myself awaiting
is the warbler's singing voice.
- Meaning
- From the morning the new year begins, what I cannot help but wait for is the song of the bush warbler.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 5
Headnote: "For the monthly folding screens in the reign of Engi"
From the very morning of New Year's Day, when the year returns anew, the poet already longs for the first song of the bush warbler. Expectation of the bird that announces spring is expressed together with the fresh mood of the year's beginning. According to the headnote, the poem was written for the screens depicting the months made in the Engi era of Emperor Daigo, and it suits a picture of the first month.
The priest Sosei was the son of Archbishop Henjō; after taking vows he lived at Urin'in and elsewhere. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "aratama no," is a pillow word for "toshi" (year); with the same pillow word as poem 2 of this book, it continues the theme of the new year's arrival.
Second line, "toshi tachikaeru," refers to the year turning over into a new one.
Third line, "ashita yori," means "from the morning of New Year's Day," showing that the waiting begins the very moment the year opens.
Fourth line, "mataruru mono wa," uses the spontaneous auxiliary "ruru," expressing a longing that arises of itself.
Final line, "uguisu no koe," ends on a noun, naming at last the thing awaited and leaving a lingering resonance. The next poem also ends with "uguisu no koe," and the two are set side by side.
- Author
- Sosei
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Yoshinoyama mine no shirayuki itsu kiete kesa wa kasumi no tachikawaruran
- Next Poem
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Kōri dani tomaranu haru no tanikaze ni mada uchitokenu uguisu no koe