春日山峰続き照る月影に
知られぬ谷の松もありけり
知られぬ谷の松もありけり
- Roma-ji
-
Kasugayama mine tsuzuki teru tsukikage ni shirarenu tani no matsu mo arikeri
- English Translation
-
On Kasuga's peaks
the moonlight shines from summit
on to summit, yet
there are pines in valleys too
that know nothing of its light
- Meaning
- The moonlight shines across peak after peak of Mount Kasuga, yet there are pines down in the valley that it never touches.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 537
Though the moonlight shines on along the peaks of Mount Kasuga, the poet says, there are also pines in the valley that it never reaches or reveals. Mount Kasuga is the mountain of the Kasuga Shrine, the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara, and the moonlight shining across its peaks seems to stand for the prosperity and favor of that house. Amid favor spread far and wide, the poet sees his own misfortune in a pine overlooked in the valley.
Like tani no umoregi in poem 523 in this book, it expresses one unknown to the world through a tree in a valley.
The author, Moromitsu, was a poet of the Minamoto clan named Minamoto no Moromitsu, though the details of his career are unclear.
First line, 'Kasugayama', names Mount Kasuga in Yamato, the mountain behind the Kasuga Shrine, tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara.
Second line, 'mine tsuzuki teru', means shining from peak to peak.
Third line, 'tsukikage ni', means in the moonlight, seemingly a figure for favor.
Fourth line, 'shirarenu tani no', means of the unknown valley, where the moonlight does not reach and no one takes notice. It echoes tani no umoregi in the final line of poem 523 in this book.
Final line, 'matsu mo arikeri', means there are pines as well, the exclamatory keri closing with a realization about one's own neglected self.
- Author
- Minamoto no Moromitsu
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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