さばへなす荒ぶる神もおしなべて
今日はなごしの祓なりけり
今日はなごしの祓なりけり
- Roma-ji
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Sabae nasu araburu kami mo oshinabete kyō wa nagoshi no harae narikeri
- English Translation
-
Like the summer flies,
even the gods so unruly,
one and all of them,
today are calmed and softened
by the summer-passing rite.
- Meaning
- Even the wild gods, buzzing like the flies of summer, are all of them calmed today, for this is the day of the summer-passing purification.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 134
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Today is the day of the summer-passing purification, when even the unruly gods are all calmed alike. With "nagoshi" meaning both the passing of summer and the soothing of the gods, the poem shows even in its wording how the purification on the last day of the Sixth Month calms the wild gods.
Fujiwara no Nagatō was a poet of the mid-Heian period and a son of Fujiwara no Tomoyasu. A younger brother of the Mother of Michitsuna, he is known as the teacher of the monk Nōin, and he is counted among the Later Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "sabae nasu," means "noisy like the flies of the Fifth Month," a pillow word that modifies "araburu kami" (wild gods).
Second line, "araburu kami mo," means "even the wild gods who bring harm to people."
Third line, "oshinabete," means "all alike."
Fourth line, "kyō wa nagoshi no," is a pivot word in which "nagoshi" means both the passing of summer and "nagosu," to calm and soften. Following the purification of the preceding poem, it sings of the summer-passing rite on the last day of the Sixth Month.
Final line, "harae narikeri," means "it is the day of purification," with "keri" expressing the exclamation of realization. With the summer-passing purification, an event at summer's end, the book moves toward the close of summer.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Nagato
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Soko kiyomi nagaruru kawa no sayaka ni mo harauru koto o kami wa kikanan
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Momiji seba akaku narinan ogurayama aki matsu hodo no na ni koso arikere