榊葉や立ち舞ふ袖の追風に
なびかぬ神はあらじとぞ思ふ
なびかぬ神はあらじとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Sakakiba ya tachimau sode no oikaze ni nabikanu kami wa araji to zo omou
- English Translation
-
Sakaki leaves, oh,
and the wind from dancing sleeves
rising at their back:
there is no god, I think,
who would not sway to it
- Meaning
- To the wind raised by the sleeves of one who dances holding sakaki leaves, there is surely no god who would not bend.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 294
To the wind raised by the sleeves of a dancer holding sakaki leaves in the kagura, there can be no god who would not yield, the poet says. The poem praises the beauty of the sacred dance, saying it sways even the hearts of the gods.
This poem and the next poem, 295, both sing of sakaki leaves, forming a pair on sacred rites.
First line, 'sakakiba ya', are the leaves of the sakaki used in Shinto rites, presented with the exclamatory particle ya.
Second line, 'tachimau sode no', means of the sleeves as one stands and dances, the figure of a kagura dancer.
Third line, 'oikaze ni', means in the following wind, the wind raised by the turning sleeves.
Fourth line, 'nabikanu kami wa', means a god who does not bend, nabiku meaning both to sway with the wind and to yield in heart.
Final line, 'araji to zo omou', means there is none, I think, zo binding with the attributive omou.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kakikurashi ame furu yowa ya ika naramu tsuki to yuki to wa kai nakarikeri
- Next Poem
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Kamigaki no mimuro no yama ni shimo fureba yūshide kakenu sakakiba zo naki