契りけん程や過ぎぬる秋の野に
人まつ虫の声の絶えせぬ
人まつ虫の声の絶えせぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Chigiriken hodo ya suginuru aki no no ni hito matsumushi no koe no taesenu
- English Translation
-
Has the time now passed
that was promised long ago?
On the autumn fields
the pine crickets waiting there
never cease their calling voice.
- Meaning
- Has the promised time already passed? On the autumn fields the voices of the pine crickets, waiting for someone, never cease.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 181
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Has the time promised for a visit already passed? On the autumn fields, the voices of the pine crickets, whose name means waiting for someone, never cease. Letting the name "matsumushi" echo "hito matsu" (waiting for someone), the poem entrusts to the insects' song the heart that waits for a promised visitor.
First line, "chigiriken," means "that was promised," with "ken" as an auxiliary of past conjecture.
Second line, "hodo ya suginuru," means "has the time passed," with the questioning particle "ya" resolved by the attributive "nuru." The poem pauses here.
Third line, "aki no no ni," means "on the autumn fields."
Fourth line, "hito matsumushi no," is a pivot word in which "matsu" means both waiting for someone and the pine cricket. The same "hito matsumushi no" appears in the fourth line of 205 of this book, so poems entrusting a waiting heart to the pine cricket answer each other within the book.
Final line, "koe no taesenu," means "their voices never cease," ending in the attributive form to leave a lingering resonance.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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