逢ふまでは思ひもよらず夏引きの
いとほしとだに言ふと聞かばや
いとほしとだに言ふと聞かばや
- Roma-ji
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Au made wa omoi mo yorazu natsubiki no itooshi to dani iu to kikabaya
- English Translation
-
To meet is something
I would not dare to hope for;
like summer-spun thread,
if only I could hear you say
'poor thing', that much at least
- Meaning
- Meeting you is more than I dare to imagine; if only I could hear that you had said, at least, 'poor thing', like a thread drawn in summer.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Love Poems I 355
The poet does not hope even to meet the beloved, but wishes at least to hear that she has said 'poor thing'. By shrinking the wish to the very least, the poem shows all the more the depth of his love.
Some manuscripts name Minamoto no Masamitsu as the author and give the headnote 'Sent to a woman.'
First line, 'au made wa', means as far as meeting.
Second line, 'omoi mo yorazu', means I do not even think of it, showing that he does not hope to meet. The poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, 'natsubiki no', means of thread drawn from cocoons in summer, leading from ito, thread, into the sound ito.
Fourth line, 'itooshi to dani', is a pivot word in which ito means both the thread drawn in summer and the ito of itooshi, left in kana. Itooshi means pitiable, and the particle dani means at least.
Final line, 'iu to kikabaya', means I wish I could hear you say it, using the wishing particle baya.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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