恋ひわたる人に見せばや松の葉の
下紅葉する天の橋立
下紅葉する天の橋立
- Roma-ji
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Koiwataru hito ni misebaya matsu no ha no shitamomiji suru Ama no Hashidate
- English Translation
-
To the one I long for
how I wish that I could show
the needles of pine
turning crimson underneath
here at Ama no Hashidate
- Meaning
- How I wish I could show the one I have long loved this sight: at Ama no Hashidate, even the evergreen pine is turning crimson on its lower boughs.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Love Poems II 422
The poet wishes to show the one he has long loved the scene at Ama no Hashidate, where even the pine, which should never change its color, is reddening on its lower needles. In the pine secretly turning crimson beneath, he overlays a love that deepens within his heart without showing on the surface.
Shitamomiji, leaves reddening below, also appears in poem 472 in this book as the shitamomiji of the forest of Iwase, and the two share the sense of feelings that color in secret.
First line, 'koiwataru', means to go on loving, wataru expressing continuation in time. It echoes crossing a bridge, a word related to Hashidate in the final line.
Second line, 'hito ni misebaya', means how I wish to show you, using the wishing particle baya. The poem breaks after the second line, and by inversion it leads on to Ama no Hashidate in the final line.
Third line, 'matsu no ha no', means of the pine needles, evergreen and unchanging.
Fourth line, 'shitamomiji suru', means reddening on the lower leaves, overlaying the secretly deepening love on the lower needles of a pine that should not change. It is the same word as shitamomiji in the third line of poem 472 in this book.
Final line, 'Ama no Hashidate', is a famous place in Tango, a sandbar lined with pines. The poem closes on a noun.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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