君が経ん八百万代を数ふれば
かつがつ今日ぞ七日なりける
かつがつ今日ぞ七日なりける
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ga hen yaoyorozuyo o kazoureba katsugatsu kyō zo nanuka narikeru
- English Translation
-
When I count the years
of the myriad ages
that you are to live,
it is barely seven days
that have passed as of today.
- Meaning
- When I count the myriad ages you will live, today marks barely the seventh day.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Celebration Poems 268
Headnote: "On visiting for the seventh night after a birth"
Counting the boundless myriad ages the child is to live, the poet says that today's seventh night is but the smallest beginning. Setting the brevity of seven days against the length of myriad ages, he celebrates the boundless life to come. According to the headnote, it was composed on visiting for the celebration of the seventh night after a birth.
The author, written as Yoshinobu, is Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu. From the Ōnakatomi family, who served as chief priests of the Ise Shrine, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "kimi ga hen," means "that you will pass," with "n" a conjectural auxiliary.
Second line, "yaoyorozuyo o," means "the myriad ages," endlessly long years. 293 in this book also sings of "yaoyorozuyo."
Third line, "kazoureba," means "when I count them."
Fourth line, "katsugatsu kyō zo," means "barely, today," with "katsugatsu" meaning "only just, at last."
Final line, "nanuka narikeru," means "it has become the seventh day," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "keru." The next poem, 269, also says "it has become seven days," so poems for the seventh night stand together. Myriad ages and seven days treat the same celebration on long and short scales.
- Author
- Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Futaba yori tanomoshiki kana kasugayama kodakaki matsu no tane zo to omoeba
- Next Poem
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Kotoshi oi no matsu wa nanuka ni narinikeri nokori no hodo o omoi koso yare