思ひやる越の白山知らねども
一夜も夢に越えぬ日ぞなき
一夜も夢に越えぬ日ぞなき
- Roma-ji
-
Omoiyaru Koshi no Shirayama shiranedomo hitoyo mo yume ni koenu hi zo naki
- English Translation
-
I think of you there,
by Koshi's White Mountain,
a place I do not know,
yet not a night goes by
I don't cross it in my dreams.
- Meaning
- I do not know the White Mountain of Koshi where my thoughts go out to you, yet there is not a single night I do not cross it in my dreams.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1242
Headnote: "Sent to someone in Koshi"
The poet says that though he does not know the White Mountain of Koshi where his thoughts go, there is not a day he does not cross it in dreams. The headnote shows it was sent to someone in the land of Koshi. Saying that in his nightly dreams he crosses the far White Mountain he has never seen to go to the other, he conveys the depth of his longing for someone far away.
The author, written as "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki, the leading compiler of the Kokinshū, who wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "omoiyaru," means "my thoughts go out far."
Second line, "Koshi no Shirayama," means "the White Mountain of Koshi," a snowy mountain on the border of Kaga and Echizen.
Third line, "shiranedomo," means "though I do not know it," taking up "shira" from "Shirayama" in the second line and repeating the sound.
Fourth line, "hitoyo mo yume ni," means "not one night in dreams," pairing with "hi," day, in the final line.
Final line, "koenu hi zo naki," means "there is no day I do not cross," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "naki," the attributive form of the adjective "nashi." It takes up "Koshi" from the second line in "koe," to cross.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Kimi o nomi omoiyaritsutsu kami yori mo kokoro no sora ni narishi yoi kana
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Yamashina no Kohata no sato ni uma wa aredo kachi yori zo kuru kimi o omoeba