いつとてか我が恋やまむちはやぶる
浅間の嶽の煙絶ゆとも
浅間の嶽の煙絶ゆとも
- Roma-ji
-
Itsu tote ka waga koi yamamu chihayaburu Asama no take no keburi tayu tomo
- English Translation
-
When, do you suppose,
could this love of mine ever end?
Even should the smoke
of awesome Asama's peak
one day cease, my love will not.
- Meaning
- When will my love ever cease? Even if the smoke of awesome Mount Asama should one day die away, my love will not end.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 656
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that even if the smoke of Mount Asama should cease, when could the poet's love ever end. Invoking the never-ending smoke of Mount Asama, it stresses a love even more inexhaustible. Smoke from a mountain also calls to mind the fire, "hi," in "omoi," the flame of love.
First line, "itsu tote ka," means "at what time," with the binding particle "ka" rhetorical and resolved by the attributive "mu" in the second line.
Second line, "waga koi yamamu," means "would my love cease? never," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "chihayaburu," is a pillow word that properly introduces "kami," gods, and here is applied to the peak of Asama as a sacred mountain.
Fourth line, "Asama no take no," means "of the peak of Asama" in Shinano Province.
Final line, "keburi tayu tomo," means "even should the smoke die out," with "tomo" a concessive supposition. It returns in inverted order to the second line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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