山賤の片岡かけて占むる庵の
境に見ゆる玉の緒柳
境に見ゆる玉の緒柳
- Roma-ji
-
Yamagatsu no kataoka kakete shimuru io no sakai ni miyuru tama no oyanagi
- English Translation
-
The mountain dweller's
hut that claims the little hill,
spreading over it,
at its boundary I see
willow, slender as a cord.
- Meaning
- At the boundary of the hut a mountain dweller has staked out across the hill, I see a willow with branches slender as the cord that strings jewels.
- Commentary
-
Spring Poems 52
Headnote: "Willows at a mountain dwelling"
The topic is willows at a mountain dwelling. At the boundary of a hut that a mountain dweller has set up across the slope, a willow trails branches as slender and supple as the cord that threads jewels.
Amid rough mountain life the poet finds the willow's supple beauty. Tama no o, the cord that threads jewels, is a figure for things long and fine, stressing the delicacy of the willow's branches.
First line, “yamagatsu no”: of a lowly mountain dweller, such as a woodcutter.
Second line, “kataoka kakete”: extending over the low hill.
Third line, “shimuru io no”: of the hut claimed as one's own, a line with an extra syllable.
Fourth line, “sakai ni miyuru”: seen at the hut's boundary.
Fifth line, “tama no oyanagi”: the poem closes on a noun, the willow with branches as slender as a jewel cord.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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Kumo nakute oboro nari tomo miyuru kana kasumi kakareru haru no yo no tsuki
- Next Poem
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Nakanaka ni kaze no hosu ni zo midarekeru ame ni nuretaru aoyagi no ito