三笠山さして来にけり石上
古き御幸の跡を尋ねて
古き御幸の跡を尋ねて
- Roma-ji
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Mikasayama sashite kinikeri Isonokami furuki miyuki no ato o tazunete
- English Translation
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To Mount Mikasa,
setting out, I have come here —
as old as Isonokami,
seeking out the traces left
by a royal visit long ago
- Meaning
- I have come here, making my way to Mount Mikasa, seeking the traces of a royal visit long ago.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Poems from Variant Manuscripts 418
The poet says she has come, heading for the Kasuga Shrine at the foot of Mount Mikasa, in order to seek out the traces of a royal visit of long ago. Following the traces of a precedent-setting visit carries the wish to inherit the splendor of the former reign.
In the source text the author is unnumbered, but the poem is included in the Shinto section of the Senzai Wakashu as a poem by Jotomon-in. Its headnote says it was composed when Emperor Go-Ichijo first made a royal visit to the Kasuga Shrine and she recalled the precedent of Emperor Ichijo's reign. Jotomon-in was the empress of Emperor Ichijo and the mother of Emperor Go-Ichijo.
Like poem 416 of this book it sings of Mount Mikasa; there the morning sun on the peak celebrated the reign, while here the poet heads for Mount Mikasa to seek the traces of an old royal visit.
The first line, "Mikasayama," names a poetic place in Yamato Province, the mountain behind the Kasuga Shrine. Poem 416 of this book names Mount Mikasa in its third line.
The second line, "sashite kinikeri," combines "sashite" (heading for), the perfective "nu," and the exclamatory "keri": I have come, heading here, with a break after the second line. "Sasu" is associated with the "kasa" (hat) of Mikasa and echoes "sasamu" in poem 416 of this book.
The third line, "Isonokami," is a pillow word for "furu" (old), leading to "furuki" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "furuki miyuki no," refers to a royal visit of long ago; in light of the Senzai Wakashu headnote it points to Emperor Ichijo's visit to Kasuga.
The final line, "ato o tazunete," means seeking its traces, giving the purpose by inversion.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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