なにせむに結びそめけん岩代の
松は久しきものと知る知る
松は久しきものと知る知る
- Roma-ji
-
Nani semu ni musubisomeken Iwashiro no matsu wa hisashiki mono to shirushiru
- English Translation
-
Why, then, did you tie
this knot, beginning our bond?
The pine of Iwashiro
means long waiting, as you
must know, as you surely know.
- Meaning
- Why did you begin by tying this knot, when you know full well that the pine of Iwashiro is a thing of long, long years?
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems II 742
Headnote: "When a certain man sent her a pine branch tied in a knot"
The poem asks why the man began by tying a knot, knowing that the pine of Iwashiro is a thing of long years. The headnote shows it was composed when a certain man sent a pine branch tied in a knot. The tied pine of Iwashiro was a custom of knotting pine branches to pray for a safe journey or reunion, known from the poem of Prince Arima. To the man who showed his vow by tying a pine, the woman lightly parries that tying it would only mean being kept waiting long. Following the pines of Sumiyoshi in the two preceding poems, it is another poem on the pine.
First line, "nani semu ni," means "for what purpose, why."
Second line, "musubisomeken," means "did you begin to tie," with "ken" an auxiliary conjecturing a past cause. The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "Iwashiro no," means "of Iwashiro" in Kii Province, famous for its tied pines.
Fourth line, "matsu wa hisashiki," means "the pine is long-lasting," echoing "matsu," to wait, in "matsu," pine, and suggesting long waiting. It shares the long years of the pine with "hisashiku mo" in 740 and 741.
Final line, "mono to shirushiru," means "knowing it to be so," turning back in inverted order to the question of the second line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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