鷺のゐる松原いかに騒ぐらむ
しらげはうたて里とよむなり
しらげはうたて里とよむなり
- Roma-ji
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Sagi no iru matsubara ika ni sawaguramu shirage wa utate sato toyomu nari
- English Translation
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Where the herons perch,
how great must be the uproar
in the pine grove now,
for the pounding of the rice
rings so harshly through the village
- Meaning
- How the pine grove where the herons roost must be in an uproar, for the pounding of rice resounds so harshly through the village.
- Commentary
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Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 556
How the pine grove where the herons roost must be in an uproar, the poet says, for the sound of rice being pounded white echoes unpleasantly through the village. Hearing the pounding that polishes rice resound through the village, she is reminded of the white herons and playfully imagines them startled into a commotion in the pines. A witty poem that lets shirage echo the white of the herons.
The author, Izumi Shikibu, was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune, Governor of Echizen, and served in the household of Jōtōmon'in Shōshi. Known as a poet of many loves, she was the mother of Koshikibu no Naishi. One of her poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
First line, 'sagi no iru', means where the herons perch.
Second line, 'matsubara ika ni', means how the pine grove, ika ni answered by ramu in the third line.
Third line, 'sawaguramu', means must be in an uproar, the conjectural ramu imagining the unseen grove; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, 'shirage wa utate', is apparently a pivot in which shirage means both polishing rice white and the white feathers of herons, left in kana. Utate means distressingly, terribly.
Final line, 'sato toyomu nari', means it seems to echo through the village, the inferential nari showing a guess made from sound.
- Author
- Izumi Shikibu
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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