天の川これや流れの末ならむ
空より落つる布引の滝
空より落つる布引の滝
- Roma-ji
-
Ama no gawa kore ya nagare no sue naramu sora yori otsuru Nunobiki no taki
- English Translation
-
The River of Heaven,
could this be where its waters
come at last to end?
Falling down from the sky,
the Nunobiki cascade
- Meaning
- Could this be where the River of Heaven at last comes to its end, the Nunobiki Falls that plunge down from the sky?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 546
Could the Nunobiki Falls, which seem to plunge from the sky, be the lower reaches of the River of Heaven? the poet asks. Seeing the falls dropping from a high cliff as the River of Heaven flowing down from above to earth, the poem praises their grandeur.
Following the preceding poem, 545, which likened a waterfall to a white cloud, this one likens it to the River of Heaven, and together the two compare the falls to things of the sky. The Nunobiki Falls are a famous place in Settsu, and the Tales of Ise also tells of Ariwara no Yukihira and others viewing these falls and composing poems.
First line, 'Ama no gawa', means the River of Heaven, the Milky Way flowing across the night sky.
Second line, 'kore ya nagare no', means is this the stream's, the particle ya expressing a question answered by mu in the third line.
Third line, 'sue naramu', means could it be the end, the irrealis of the copula nari followed by the attributive of mu, answering ya in the second line; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, 'sora yori otsuru', means falling from the sky, tied to Ama no gawa in the first line. It uses the same otsuru as otsuru takitsuse in the final line of the preceding poem, 545.
Final line, 'Nunobiki no taki', is a famous place in Settsu, closing on a noun. Its name is said to come from its falling like a length of white cloth drawn out.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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Shirakumo to yoso ni mitsureba ashihiki no yama mo todoro ni otsuru takitsuse
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Kamigaki wa ki no marodono ni aranedomo nanori o seneba hito togamekeri