鹿立たぬ端山が裾にともしして
いく夜かひなき夜を明かすらむ
いく夜かひなき夜を明かすらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Shika tatanu hayama ga suso ni tomoshi shite ikuyo kainaki yo o akasuramu
- English Translation
-
Where no deer appear
at the foot of the low hills
they light their hunting fires;
how many fruitless nights
must they pass until the dawn
- Meaning
- Lighting their hunting torches at the foot of low hills where no deer appear, how many fruitless nights must the hunters spend until dawn?
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 147
Lighting hunting fires at the foot of low hills where no deer appear, the hunters must pass night after night until dawn with nothing to show for it. The poem conveys the futility of the summer night hunt and the length of the night.
The preceding poem, 146, also sings of the torchlight hunt, and the two form a pair. Where that poem sees the fire from the deer's side, this one speaks from the side of the hunters waiting for deer.
The author, Akinaka (Minamoto), is Minamoto no Akinaka. A son of Minamoto no Akifusa, he served as Head of the Department of Divinities. He was the father of Taikenmon'in no Horikawa and Jōsaimon'in no Hyōe.
First line, 'shika tatanu', means where no deer appear, nu being the attributive form of the negative zu.
Second line, 'hayama ga suso ni', takes hayama, low hills near the villages, and their foot.
Third line, 'tomoshi shite', means carrying on the torchlight hunt, lighting fires to lure deer.
Fourth line, 'ikuyo kainaki', means how many fruitless nights, lamenting the lack of game.
Final line, 'yo o akasuramu', uses the conjectural ramu, answering 'how many nights' in the fourth line: how many such nights must they pass?
- Author
- Minamoto no Akinaka
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Sawamizu ni hogushi no kage no utsureru o futa tomoshi to ya shika wa miruramu
- Next Poem
-
Satsukiyami hanatachibana no arika o ba kaze no tsute ni zo sora ni shirikeru