Front
Back
Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
中納言家持
かささぎの
渡せる橋に
おく霜の
白きをみれば
夜ぞふけにける
しろきをみ
れはよそふ
けにける
かさ
- Poem 6
- かささぎの
渡せる橋に
おく霜の
白きをみれば 夜ぞふけにける
Author: Middle Counselor Yakamochi (c. 718–785)
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashū, Winter
- English Verse Translation
- When on the Magpies' Bridge I see The Hoar-frost King has cast His sparkling mantle, well I know
The night is nearly past, Daylight approaches fast.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- Looking up at the Milky Way that magpies wing across — its white shimmer seems to be scattered frost. The night deepens.
- Commentary
- The legend of Tanabata, born in China, was transmitted to Japan during the Nara period. This poem describes the glittering Milky Way spread across the winter night sky, its brilliance appearing as though frost had settled over it.
- About the Poet
- Middle Counselor Yakamochi (Ōtomo no Yakamochi) was a Nara-period poet traditionally credited as the compiler of the Man'yōshū. Caught up in political rivalry with the Fujiwara clan, he rose and fell in rank repeatedly before finally reaching the office of Middle Counselor. After the assassination of Fujiwara no Tanetsugu, the Fujiwara accused him of plotting treason against Emperor Kanmu — even after his death, he was stripped of his court rank and his remains were exiled to distant Oki. About twenty years later, Emperor Kanmu, gravely ill and fearing the vengeful spirit of Yakamochi, finally granted him a pardon and restored his rank.
- Middle Counselor Yakamochi's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
The bridge of magpies across the night sky
gleams white as frost.As I watch, the night deepens
without a sound.And I am left standing there, alone.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).