かき曇り雨降る川のささら波
間なくも人の恋ひらるるかな
間なくも人の恋ひらるるかな
- Roma-ji
-
Kakikumori ame furu kawa no sasaranami ma naku mo hito no koiraruru kana
- English Translation
-
The sky clouds over,
and on the rain-swept river
the ripples rise;
without a moment's pause
I find myself longing for you.
- Meaning
- Like ripples rising on a river beneath a darkened sky and falling rain, without a moment's pause I find myself longing for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 956
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that, like the ripples rising on a river where rain falls under a clouded sky, I long for that person without a moment's pause. It lays over the ripples of a rain-struck river, rising without rest, a longing that never ceases even for an instant.
From this poem through 961, poems of rain and tears continue, and this poem stands at their beginning.
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.
First line, "kakikumori," means "the sky clouding over completely."
Second line, "ame furu kawa no," means "of the river where rain falls." It shares the word "ame," rain, with 957, 958, and 959 in this book.
Third line, "sasaranami," means "fine ripples." The first three lines form an introductory phrase that, from the ripples rising without pause, leads to "ma naku," without pause, in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "ma naku mo hito no," means "without a pause, that person."
Final line, "koiraruru kana," means "how I find myself longing," with "raruru" the attributive of the spontaneous auxiliary "raru" and "kana" exclamatory.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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