御狩する駒のつまづく青つづら
君こそ我はほだしなりけれ
君こそ我はほだしなりけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Mikari suru koma no tsumazuku aotsuzura kimi koso ware wa hodashi narikere
- English Translation
-
In the royal hunt
the horses stumble on green vines,
and so it is with me:
you, my love, are the very rope
that holds me fast and bound.
- Meaning
- Like the green vines that trip the horses in the royal hunt, it is you who are the fetter that binds me.
- Commentary
-
Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1264
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that, like the green vines on which the horses stumble in the royal hunt, the beloved is the fetter that binds. Likening the dear one who keeps the poet from doing as he wishes to the green vines that tangle around the horses' legs on the hunting ground, it can also be read as the lament that even when one would leave the world, love for the other holds the heart fast.
First line, "mikari suru," means "on the hunt," with "mi" honorific.
Second line, "koma no tsumazuku," means "on which the horses stumble."
Third line, "aotsuzura," means "green vines," which tangle around the horses' legs. Up to here the lines form a preface leading to "hodashi" in the final line.
Fourth line, "kimi koso ware wa," means "you indeed, for me," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective "kere" in the final line.
Final line, "hodashi narikere," means "are the fetter that binds me," with "hodashi" the rope tying a horse's legs and, by extension, whatever holds one back. "Kere" is the perfective form of "keri," a sigh of realization.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Sore naranu koto mo arishi o wasurene to iishi bakari o mimi ni tomeken
- Next Poem
-
Kimi mireba musubu no kami zo urameshiki tsurenaki hito o nani tsukuriken