御狩野のしばしの恋はさもあらばあれ
反りはてぬるか矢形尾の鷹
反りはてぬるか矢形尾の鷹
- Roma-ji
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Mikarino no shibashi no koi wa samo araba are sorihatenuru ka yakatao no taka
- English Translation
-
On the hunting moor,
a love that lasted a while —
let it be as it may;
have you flown off for good, then,
my hawk with arrow-shaped tail
- Meaning
- A brief love on the royal hunting moor — let it end as it will; but have you truly flown off for good, my hawk with the arrow-shaped tail?
- Commentary
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Book Eight Love Poems II 253
The poet likens a lover whose heart has strayed to a hawk loosed on the hunting grounds that veers away and never returns. Bravely claiming that a passing love may end as it will, the poem entrusts its lingering attachment to the departed one to a scene of falconry.
The first line, "mikarino no," names a moor where the emperor or nobles hunted with hawks, setting the scene of falconry.
The second line, "shibashi no koi wa" (a brief love), singles out a fleeting affair with "wa."
The third line, "samo araba are" (let it be as it may), has seven syllables, an extra-syllable line, and expresses reckless indifference, with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "sorihatenuru ka," adds the perfective "nu" and questioning "ka" to "soru," a hawk veering away from its master, overlaying it with a heart that has strayed.
The final line, "yakatao no taka," names a hawk whose tail feathers are shaped like an arrow's fletching; placed by inversion as a closing noun, it stands for the departed lover.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Au koto ya namida no tama no o naruramu shibashi tayureba ochite midaruru
- Next Poem
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Take no ha ni arare furu nari sarasara ni hitori wa nu beki kokochi koso sene