長居すな都の花も咲きぬらむ
我もなにゆゑ急ぐ綱手ぞ
我もなにゆゑ急ぐ綱手ぞ
- Roma-ji
-
Nagai su na miyako no hana mo sakinuramu ware mo nani yue isogu tsunade zo
- English Translation
-
Do not linger here —
the blossoms in the capital
must be blooming now;
for what other reason, then,
would I hurry the towrope on
- Meaning
- Do not linger! The blossoms in the capital must already be in bloom; for what else would I be hurrying the towrope along?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 275
On a boat hurrying back to the capital, the poet imagines the blossoms there already in bloom and urges that there is no time to dawdle. Through a question — why else would I hurry the towrope? — the poem expresses a traveler's longing to return.
The first line, "nagai su na" (do not linger), uses the prohibitive "na," with a break after the first line.
The second line, "miyako no hana mo," adds with "mo": the blossoms of the capital too.
The third line, "sakinuramu," combines the perfective "nu" and conjectural "ramu" to imagine that they must have bloomed by now, with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "ware mo nani yue" (for what reason do I), asks the question, hinting that the reason for haste lies in the blossoms of the capital.
The final line, "isogu tsunade zo," refers to hurrying the towrope that pulls the boat, ending firmly with the emphatic "zo."
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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