霜置かぬ袖だに冴ゆる冬の夜に
鴨の上毛を思ひこそやれ
鴨の上毛を思ひこそやれ
- Roma-ji
-
Shimo okanu sode dani sayuru fuyu no yo ni kamo no uwage o omoi koso yare
- English Translation
-
On a winter night
when even my sleeve, untouched
by frost, is chilled through,
how my thoughts go out to the
frost-laid feathers of the ducks.
- Meaning
- On a winter night when even my sleeve, untouched by frost, is chilled through, my thoughts go out to the wild ducks with frost on their outer feathers.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 230
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
On a winter night when even a sleeve untouched by frost indoors is chilled, the poet imagines how cold the feathers of the ducks on the water must be under the frost. Moving from his own chill to the ducks, he brings out the severity of the winter night.
The author, called Kintō, Commander of the Right Gate Guards, is Fujiwara no Kintō. A son of the Chancellor Fujiwara no Yoritada, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor. He compiled the Wakan Rōeishū, is regarded as the compiler of the Shūishō, and is counted among the Later Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "shimo okanu," means "untouched by frost," referring to the poet's own sleeve indoors.
Second line, "sode dani sayuru," means "even my sleeve is chilled," with "dani" a particle that cites a lesser case to imply a greater one.
Third line, "fuyu no yo ni," means "on a winter night."
Fourth line, "kamo no uwage o," means "the outer feathers of the ducks," implying the frost that settles on them.
Final line, "omoi koso yare," means "how my thoughts go out," with the emphatic particle "koso" resolved by the perfective "yare." It is the same expression as the fourth line of 217 in this book, sharing the conceit of moving from the cold close at hand to something far away.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kintō
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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