三笠山さすがに陰に隠ろへて
ふるかひもなきあめの下かな
ふるかひもなきあめの下かな
- Roma-ji
-
Mikasayama sasuga ni kage ni kakuroete furu kai mo naki ame no shita kana
- English Translation
-
On Mount Mikasa,
hidden away, as might be,
in its shadowed shade,
there is no point in the rain
under heaven, no point in living
- Meaning
- Hidden away in the shade of Mount Mikasa, as though under a hat, I find no point in the rain that falls nor in the years that pass beneath this heaven.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 335
Likening one hidden in the shade of Mount Mikasa, never seeing the light of day, to being covered by a hat so that the falling rain is wasted, the poet laments a world in which living on has no point. Playing "furu" as both falling and passing time, and "ame no shita" as both under the rain and under heaven, and linking the "kasa" (hat) of Mikasa with rain as associated words, the poem wittily expresses a sense of being overlooked.
Mount Mikasa was also used as another name for the Inner Palace Guards, and the poem may be read as lamenting one who serves in the Guards yet cannot rise in the world. The source text gives no author's name.
The first line, "Mikasayama," names a poetic place in Yamato Province; the "kasa" (hat) in its name is associated with the rain in the following lines. Poems 291 and 306 of this book also sing of Mount Mikasa.
The second line, "sasuga ni kage ni," uses "sasuga ni" (as might be expected) to show one placed in the mountain's shade.
The third line, "kakuroete," means hiding out of sight.
The fourth line, "furu kai mo naki," is a pivot word joining rain "falling" and years "passing," the same line as in poem 331 of this book.
The final line, "ame no shita kana," is a pivot word joining "under the rain" and "under heaven," ending with the exclamatory "kana": what a world with no worth in it.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hitaburu ni yamada moru mi to narinureba ware nomi hito o odorokasu kana
- Next Poem
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Kimi hikazu narinamashikaba ayamegusa ikanaru ne o ka kyō wa kakemashi