青柳の花田の糸をより合はせて
絶えずも鳴くか鶯の声
絶えずも鳴くか鶯の声
- Roma-ji
-
Aoyagi no hanada no ito o yoriawasete taezu mo naku ka uguisu no koe
- English Translation
-
The green willow's threads
of pale indigo it twists
together, so it seems,
singing on without a break,
the warbler's singing voice.
- Meaning
- As if twisting together the green willow's pale indigo threads, how unbrokenly the warbler sings!
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 34
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Likening the green willow's branches to pale indigo thread, the poem says the warbler sings without a break, as if twisting those threads together into an unbroken strand. It binds the spring images of willow and warbler into one through the imagery of thread.
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune was one of the compilers of the Kokinshū and was ranked alongside Ki no Tsurayuki. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "aoyagi no," continues the green willow poems from the preceding one.
Second line, "hanada no ito o," means thread of pale indigo, the color of the willow's budding branches.
Third line, "yoriawasete," means twisting threads together, and has an extra syllable. It takes up "yoru" from poems 32 and 33 of this book.
Fourth line, "taezu mo naku ka," with "taezu" (unbroken) as an associated word of thread, and "ka" expressing exclamation.
Final line, "uguisu no koe," ends on a noun and is the same final line as poems 5 and 6 of this book.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Chikakute zo iro mo masareru aoyagi no ito wa yorite zo miru bekarikeru
- Next Poem
-
Hanami ni wa murete yukedomo aoyagi no ito no moto ni wa kuru hito mo nashi