皆人の笠に縫ふてふ有馬菅
ありて後にも逢はむとぞ思ふ
ありて後にも逢はむとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Minahito no kasa ni nuu chō arimasuge arite no nochi mo awamu to zo omou
- English Translation
-
Like the Arima sedge
that everyone, so they say,
sews into a hat,
so living on, even later,
I mean to meet with you.
- Meaning
- Like the Arima sedge that everyone is said to sew into hats, I mean to live on, and to meet you even if it is only later.
- Commentary
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Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 858
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that, like the name of the Arima sedge that everyone is said to sew into hats, I mean to live on and meet you even later. Though we cannot meet now, it sings of a strong will to hold on to love and meet even after time has passed.
The author, "Hitomaro", is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, a court poet of the Asuka period revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Many Man'yōshū poems are included in the Shūishū under Hitomaro's name.
A similar poem appears in Book Twelve of the Man'yōshū with the first line "hito mina no."
First line, "minahito no," means "everyone."
Second line, "kasa ni nuu chō," means "which, it is said, is sewn into hats," with "chō" a contraction of "to iu."
Third line, "arimasuge," is the sedge growing at Arima in Settsu, used for weaving hats. From the first line to here forms a preface leading by sound to "arite."
Fourth line, "arite no nochi mo," means "even after living on." Taking up the "ari" of Arima, it expresses the sense of continuing to live.
Final line, "awamu to zo omou," means "I mean to meet you," with "mu" an auxiliary of intention, concluding in the attributive "omou" in answer to the binding particle "zo."
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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