水底に生ふる玉藻のうちなびき
心を寄せて恋ふるこのころ
心を寄せて恋ふるこのころ
- Roma-ji
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Minasoko ni ouru tamamo no uchinabiki kokoro o yosete kouru kono koro
- English Translation
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On the river bed
the jewel-weed grows and sways,
bending with the stream;
so I lean my heart to you,
longing for you these days.
- Meaning
- Like the jewel-weed growing on the river bed, swaying with the current, I lean my heart toward you in longing these days.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Love Poems I 640
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that, like jewel-weed growing on the river bed and swaying in the current, the poet these days leans his heart toward the beloved in longing. It likens his single-minded devotion to the waterweed bending with the flow. Following the two preceding poems, which used boats on the water as prefaces, it uses weed at the water's bottom. A poem of nearly the same import appears in Book Eleven of the Man'yōshū.
The author, written as "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet who served in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, he is revered as the Saint of Poetry.
First line, "minasoko ni," means "on the bed of the water."
Second line, "ouru tamamo no," means "the lovely waterweed growing there," with "tama" a word of praise. Up to here the lines form a preface leading to "uchinabiki" in the third line.
Third line, "uchinabiki," means "swaying," with "uchi" a prefix that sets the rhythm.
Fourth line, "kokoro o yosete," means "leaning my heart," overlaying the weed drawn by the current with a heart drawn to the beloved.
Final line, "kouru kono koro," means "these days of longing," ending on a noun.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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