松風のをことの里に通ふにぞ
治まれる世の声は聞こゆる
治まれる世の声は聞こゆる
- Roma-ji
-
Matsukaze no okoto no sato ni kayou ni zo osamareru yo no koe wa kikoyuru
- English Translation
-
As the pine wind blows
through the Village of Okoto,
the Little Harp,
the voice of a world at peace
is what comes to our ears
- Meaning
- As the wind in the pines blows through the village of Okoto, we hear in it the voice of a world well at peace.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Celebration Poems 317
In the sound of the pine wind blowing through the village of Okoto, the poet hears the voice of a well-ordered world. With koto in the village's name also meaning the harp, it uses the old figure of the pine wind sounding like a harp, best known from Saigū no Nyōgo's poem in the Shūishū, which wonders from which string the pine wind on the peak began its tune.
Drawing on the idea that when the world is well governed its music is calm, the poem hears the pine wind as the voice of a peaceful reign.
From poem 315 through poem 319 in this book come poems that weave in place names such as Tsuzumi Mountain, Asahi Village, Okoto Village and Nima Village to celebrate a well-ordered reign. Celebrating the reign by weaving in place names is a form often seen in the poems of the Yuki and Suki provinces at the Great Thanksgiving Festival.
First line, 'matsukaze no', means the wind in the pines, a wind likened to the sound of the harp.
Second line, 'okoto no sato ni', is the name of a village, a pivot word in which koto also means harp, linked to 'pine wind' in the first line.
Third line, 'kayou ni zo', means as it blows through, zo binding with the attributive kikoyuru in the final line.
Fourth line, 'osamareru yo no', means of a world well ordered, using the continuative ri.
Final line, 'koe wa kikoyuru', means its voice is heard, hearing the pine wind as the voice of a peaceful world.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kumori naki toyo no akari ni ōmi naru asahi no sato wa hikari sashisou
- Next Poem
-
Mitsugimono hakobu yohoro o kazoureba nima no satobito kazu soinikeri