春来ればまづぞうち見る石上
めづらしげなき山田なれども
めづらしげなき山田なれども
- Roma-ji
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Haru kureba mazu zo uchimiru isonokami mezurashigenaki yamada naredomo
- English Translation
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When the spring arrives
it is the first thing I see,
though, old as Isonokami,
there is nothing new about
this little field in the hills.
- Meaning
- When spring comes it is the first thing I look at, though it is only an old mountain field with nothing new about it.
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems 45
Headnote: "A folding screen in the reign of Tenryaku"
Though it is a familiar mountain field with nothing new about it, when spring comes it is the first thing the poet looks at. In the spring field where farm work begins, the poem sees the start of the year's labor on the land. According to the headnote, it accompanied a screen in the Tenryaku era of Emperor Murakami.
The author, written as Tadami, is Mibu no Tadami. The son of Mibu no Tadamine, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "haru kureba," is the same opening as the next poem, and the two poems on mountain fields in spring stand together.
Second line, "mazu zo uchimiru," closes in the attributive "miru" in response to "zo," and the poem pauses after the second line.
Third line, "isonokami," is properly a pillow word for "furu" (old), and here, through the sense of oldness, leads to "mezurashigenaki."
Fourth line, "mezurashigenaki," means "with nothing new about it."
Final line, "yamada naredomo," means a field among the mountains; ending on the concessive "domo" by inversion leaves a lingering mood.
- Author
- Mibu no Tadami
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Sakisomete ikuyo henuran sakurabana iro o ba hito ni akazu misetsutsu
- Next Poem
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Haru kureba yamada no kōri uchitokete hito no kokoro ni makasu beranari