あしひきの山越え暮れて宿借らば
妹立ち待ちて寝ねざらむかも
妹立ち待ちて寝ねざらむかも
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yama koe kurete yado karaba imo tachimachite inezaramu kamo
- English Translation
-
Over the mountain,
foot-wearying, night falls,
should I take lodging,
would my wife stand waiting still
and never lie down to sleep?
- Meaning
- If night falls as I cross the mountain and I must borrow lodging on the way, will my wife stand waiting for me and not sleep?
- Commentary
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Book Thirteen Love Poems III 781
Headnote: "On expressing the feelings of a journey"
The poem imagines that if night falls while crossing the mountain and one must borrow lodging on the road, one's wife at home will stand waiting and stay awake. The headnote shows it was composed on the topic of expressing the feelings of a journey, and it sings of a traveler's concern for the wife waiting at home.
The author, "Isonokami no Otomaro," is Isonokami no Otomaro, a court noble of the Nara period and son of the Minister of the Left Isonokami no Maro. He rose to Middle Counselor, and his Chinese poems are included in the Kaifūsō anthology.
First line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word modifying "yama," mountain, the fifth in the sequence beginning "ashihiki no."
Second line, "yama koe kurete," means "night falling as I cross the mountain."
Third line, "yado karaba," means "if I borrow lodging," with "ba" after the irrealis form marking a supposition.
Fourth line, "imo tachimachite," means "my wife standing and waiting," with "imo" a man's fond word for his wife or beloved. Reversing the viewpoint of the poems up to 780, which speak from the side of the one waiting, it imagines the waiting wife from the side of the traveler.
Final line, "inezaramu kamo," means "will she not sleep," with "kamo" expressing exclamation tinged with doubt.
- Author
- Isonokami no Otomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Ashihiki no yama no yamasuge yamazu nomi mineba koishiki kimi ni mo aru kana
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Ashihiki no yama yori izuru tsuki matsu to hito ni wa iite kimi o koso mate