雲居より貫きかくる白玉を
誰布引の滝と言ひけむ
誰布引の滝と言ひけむ
- Roma-ji
-
Kumoi yori tsuranukikakuru shiratama o tare Nunobiki no taki to iikemu
- English Translation
-
These white jewels strung
and hung down from the clouds above
on a single thread —
who was it that named them
the falls of Nunobiki
- Meaning
- Who was it that called these white jewels, strung and hung down from the clouds, the Nunobiki Falls — the Falls of Drawn Cloth?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 285
Likening the spray of a high waterfall to white jewels strung on a thread and hung down from the clouds, the poet asks who named it Nunobiki, "drawn cloth." The conceit lies in insisting that, despite the name, the falls are rather a thread strung with jewels.
Nunobiki Falls is a poetic place in Settsu Province, sung of in many poems since early times.
The first line, "kumoi yori" (from the clouds), means from far on high, conveying the height of the falls.
The second line, "tsuranukikakuru," means stringing jewels on a thread and hanging them, likening the falling water to such a thread.
The third line, "shiratama o" (white jewels), likens the spray to gleaming white gems.
The fourth line, "tare Nunobiki no," asks "who" and names Nunobiki Falls in Settsu; "nuno" (cloth) is associated with the threading of the second line.
The final line, "taki to iikemu," uses the past conjectural "kemu" to ask who could have named the falls so.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Takasue
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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