奥山の岩垣沼の水隠りに
恋ひや渡らん逢ふよしをなみ
恋ひや渡らん逢ふよしをなみ
- Roma-ji
-
Okuyama no iwakakinuma no mikomori ni koi ya wataran au yoshi o nami
- English Translation
-
Deep in the mountains,
in a marsh walled round with rocks,
hidden in its waters,
must I go on loving so,
with no way for us to meet?
- Meaning
- Like the water hidden in a rock-walled marsh deep in the mountains, must I go on loving in secret, having no way to meet you?
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 661
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks whether the poet must go on loving in secret, like water hidden in a rock-walled marsh deep in the mountains, having no way to meet. It likens a hidden love that cannot be shown to a mountain marsh unseen by others. Where 659 and 660 voiced a boundless love, this poem sings of a love shut up within. 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, "okuyama no," means "deep in the mountains."
Second line, "iwakakinuma no," means "of the marsh walled round with rocks."
Third line, "mikomori ni," means "hidden in its waters," speaking of keeping one's love secret within. Up to here the lines serve as a preface.
Fourth line, "koi ya wataran," means "must I go on loving," with the binding particle "ya" interrogative and resolved by the attributive "n." The poem breaks after this fourth line. It is the same phrasing as the final line of 631, "koi ya wataramu."
Final line, "au yoshi o nami," means "since there is no way to meet," with "o ... mi" expressing cause. In inverted order it gives the reason for the fourth line.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Umi mo asashi yama mo hodo nashi waga koi o nani ni yosoete kimi ni iwamashi
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Amata mishi toyo no misogi no morobito no kimi shimo mono o omowasuru kana