春の来しその日つららは解けにしを
又何事にとどこほるらむ
又何事にとどこほるらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Haru no koshi sono hi tsurara wa tokenishi o mata nanigoto ni todokōruramu
- English Translation
-
On the very day
that spring came, the sheets of ice
had already thawed,
so what is it this time that
keeps everything held back
- Meaning
- The ice melted on the very day that spring arrived, so what is it now that keeps things from moving on?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 534
On the very day spring came, the ice had already thawed, the poet says, so what is it now that holds things back? Likening the ice that melts with spring's arrival to matters going smoothly, the poem expresses puzzlement that things still do not move forward. It seems to be a question addressed to someone about a matter delayed for some reason.
Todokōru also appears in poem 584 in this book, which sings of tears that do not freeze even on a winter night. The melted ice of this poem and the unfreezing tears of 584 echo each other.
First line, 'haru no koshi', means when spring came, the attributive shi of the past ki modifying sono hi in the second line.
Second line, 'sono hi tsurara wa', means on that day the ice, tsurara being ice spread over a surface.
Third line, 'tokenishi o', means though it had melted, the perfective nu, the past ki and the concessive o.
Fourth line, 'mata nanigoto ni', means for what reason again.
Final line, 'todokōruramu', means is it held back, closing with the conjectural ramu in puzzlement over why things do not move forward. It echoes todokōranu wa in the fourth line of poem 584 in this book.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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