筑紫よりここまで来れどつともなし
太刀のをかはのはしのみぞある
太刀のをかはのはしのみぞある
- Roma-ji
-
Tsukushi yori koko made kuredo tsuto mo nashi tachi no okawa no hashi nomi zo aru
- English Translation
-
All the way from Tsukushi
I have come this far, and yet
no gift do I bring;
of my sword's leather strap
there is only the end left.
- Meaning
- I have come all the way here from Tsukushi, yet I have no gift; there is only the end of my sword's leather strap.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Names of Things 381
Headnote: "Okawa no hashi (bridge over a stream)"
The poet jests that though he has come all the way from Tsukushi, he has no gift, only the end of his sword's leather strap. Playfully portraying himself empty-handed at the end of a long journey, the poem hides the name "okawa no hashi" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "okawa no hashi" from the fourth to the final line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
Ariwara no Narihira Ason was a son of Prince Abo, himself a son of Emperor Heizei. He is counted among both the Six Poetic Immortals and the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and has long been taken as the hero of The Tales of Ise.
First line, "tsukushi yori," means "from Tsukushi" in Kyushu.
Second line, "koko made kuredo," means "though I came this far," with "do" a concessive particle.
Third line, "tsuto mo nashi," means "I have no gift," and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "tachi no okawa no," means "of the leather strap from which the sword hangs." With "hashi" at the start of the final line, it hides the name "okawa no hashi." After the Yodo River of 379 and 380 in this book, a name connected with a river is sung of.
Final line, "hashi nomi zo aru," means "only the end remains," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "aru."
- Author
- Ariwara no Narihira
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Ashihiki no yamabe ni oreba shirakumo no ika ni seyo to ka haruru toki naki
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Mi o sutete yama ni irinishi ware nareba kuma no kurawamu koto mo oboezu