旅のいはやなき床にも寝られけり
草の枕に露は置けども
草の枕に露は置けども
- Roma-ji
-
Tabi no iwaya naki toko ni mo nerarekeri kusa no makura ni tsuyu wa okedomo
- English Translation
-
On my journey, I
could sleep even on a bed
with no cave for roof,
though upon my grass pillow
the dew settles all the night.
- Meaning
- On my journey I was able to sleep even on a bed without so much as a rock shelter, though the dew settles on my pillow of grass.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Names of Things 356
Headnote: "Iwayanagi (rock willow)"
The poet says that on his journey he could sleep even on a bed in the open with not so much as a rock shelter against the rain and dew, though the dew settles on his pillow of grass. Within the loneliness of sleeping on the road, the name "iwayanagi" given in the headnote is hidden in the run of sounds "iwaya naki" in the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Fujiwara no Sukemi in kana, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.
First line, "tabi no," means "on the journey."
Second line, "iwaya naki toko ni mo," means "even on a bed without a rock shelter," hiding the name "iwayanagi" in "iwaya naki." After the spring flowers of the preceding poems, the name of a tree is sung of.
Third line, "nerarekeri," means "I was able to sleep," with "rare" an auxiliary of possibility and "keri" expressing realization. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kusa no makura ni," means "on the grass pillow" of sleep on the road.
Final line, "tsuyu wa okedomo," means "though the dew settles," with "domo" a concessive particle. By inversion it attaches to the third line.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Sukemi
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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