麓をば宇治の川霧立ちこめて
雲居に見ゆる朝日山かな
雲居に見ゆる朝日山かな
- Roma-ji
-
Fumoto o ba Uji no kawagiri tachikomete kumoi ni miyuru Asahiyama kana
- English Translation
-
Around its foothills
the mist of Uji's river
hangs thick and close,
and it seems to float on high —
Mount Asahi of the dawn
- Meaning
- With the river mist of Uji filling the land at its foot, Mount Asahi seems to float high in the sky.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Poems from Variant Manuscripts 419
The mist of the Uji River fills the foot of the mountain and hides it, so that only the summit of Mount Asahi is seen high in the sky. The poem captures a morning view in which the mist makes the mountain seem to float in the sky, together with "asahi" (morning sun) in the mountain's name.
It is included in the second book of autumn poems of the Shin Kokin Wakashu as a poem on mist from the hundred-poem sequence presented in the reign of Emperor Horikawa.
Whereas poem 416 of this book sang of the morning sun shining on the peak of Mount Mikasa, this one sings of Mount Asahi with its foot wrapped in mist, so that the two poems echo each other through summit and foot, and through the morning sun and a mountain's name.
The first line, "fumoto o ba," singles out the foot of the mountain with "o ba," "o" followed by a voiced "wa." It pairs with "mine ni" (on the peak) in poem 416 of this book.
The second line, "Uji no kawagiri," refers to the mist rising from the Uji River in Yamashiro Province.
The third line, "tachikomete," refers to the mist filling everything.
The fourth line, "kumoi ni miyuru," means appearing high in the sky, showing the summit floating above the mist.
The final line, "Asahiyama kana," names Mount Asahi beside the Uji River and ends with the exclamatory "kana." The "asahi" in the name evokes the morning scene and answers the "asahi" of poem 416 of this book.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kinzane
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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