Yamazato no sabishiki yado no sumika ni mo kakehi no mizu no tokuru o zo matsu - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山里の寂しき宿の住みかにも
かけひの水の解くるをぞ待つ

Roma-ji: Yamazato no sabishiki yado no sumika ni mo kakehi no mizu no tokuru o zo matsu
English Translation: In the mountain village,
even in a lonely dwelling
where I make my home,
for the water of the pipe
to thaw, I wait and wait
Meaning: Even in my lonely dwelling in the mountain village, I wait for the water in the bamboo pipe to thaw.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1104

Headnote: "Reply"
This is Princess Satoko's reply to the preceding poem, 1103. Even in my lonely dwelling in the mountain village I wait for the water of the pipe to thaw, she says. To her younger brother, who had imagined the loneliness of the frozen pipe, she answers that though her home in the mountain village is lonely, she looks forward to the ice melting and spring arriving. It is a reply that accepts loneliness without losing the brightness of waiting for spring.
The author, "Princess Satoko," was the first daughter of Emperor Go-Sanjō. She was given the first rank and lived near Ninnaji.
As the reply to the preceding poem, 1103, it uses its first line "yamazato no" as its own first line and "kakehi no mizu no" in its fourth line, takes up "sabishikarikeri" as "sabishiki yado no," and answers "frozen" with "thaw."

First line, "yamazato no": the same first line as the preceding poem, 1103.
Second line, "sabishiki yado no": "of a lonely dwelling," taking up "sabishikarikeri" in the fifth line of the preceding poem.
Third line, "sumika ni mo": "even in the place where I live."
Fourth line, "kakehi no mizu no": the same phrase as the second line of the preceding poem, 1103.
Fifth line, "tokuru o zo matsu": "zo" is an emphatic binding particle closing with the attributive "matsu." Answering "frozen" in the preceding poem with "thaw," it carries a heart waiting for spring.
Author: Princess Satoko
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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