春来れば山田の氷うち解けて
人の心にまかすべらなり
人の心にまかすべらなり
- Roma-ji
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Haru kureba yamada no kōri uchitokete hito no kokoro ni makasu beranari
- English Translation
-
When the spring arrives
the ice on the mountain fields
melts and loosens so
that, it seems, the water's led
just as people's hearts desire.
- Meaning
- When spring comes, the ice on the mountain fields melts, and it seems the water can be drawn in just as people wish.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 46
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
With spring, the ice that covered the mountain field melts, and its water can be led in as people wish. The melting of the ice is grasped as the arrival of a freedom in which the water yields to human will.
Ariwara no Motokata was the grandson of Ariwara no Narihira and the son of Ariwara no Muneyana.
First line, "haru kureba," is the same opening as the preceding poem, continuing the theme of the mountain field in spring.
Second line, "yamada no kōri," takes up the mountain field of the preceding poem and names the ice that sealed it through the winter.
Third line, "uchitokete," means the ice melting, the same word as "uchitokenu" in poem 6 of this book. Where poem 6 sang of the warbler's voice not yet loosened, this poem sings of ice that has melted.
Fourth line, "hito no kokoro ni," means "as people wish."
Final line, "makasu beranari," is a pivot word combining "makasu" in the sense of leading water into a field and "makasu" meaning to entrust or leave to one's will. "Beranari" is an auxiliary of conjecture.
- Author
- Ariwara no Motokata
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Haru kureba mazu zo uchimiru isonokami mezurashigenaki yamada naredomo
- Next Poem
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Haru no ta o hito ni makasete ware wa tada hana ni kokoro o tsukuru koro kana