Spin & Discover Kakekotoba!
Poem 60: Koshikibu no Naishi
Try to find the kakekotoba hidden in the poem and tap it.
The word you tap will spin right where it is, revealing its two meanings in turn.
大江山
いく野の道の
遠ければ
まだふみもみず
天の橋立
Commentary
This poem has two kakekotoba hidden within it.
A kakekotoba layers two meanings onto a single word that sounds the same either way.
The first is "ikuno." It carries both the place name "生野" (Ikuno) and "行く" (to go).
The second is "fumi." It carries both "文" (fumi, a letter) and "踏み" (fumi, setting foot).
The road that crosses Mount Ōe and passes through Ikuno is so far away that I have never yet set foot in Ama-no-hashidate, nor have I even seen a letter from my mother. The poet, suspected of having her famous poet mother secretly write her poems for her, is said to have composed this poem on the spot, wittily clearing her name.
Making two kakekotoba resonate within just thirty-one syllables is this poem's charm.
Vocabulary
The name of a mountain in Kyoto Prefecture.
It lies along the road toward Tango Province.
A place in present-day Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture.
It lies along the road toward Tango Province.
Not yet, still.
A letter.
Setting foot.
A scenic spot in northern Kyoto Prefecture, one of Japan's Three Great Views.
It was located in Tango Province, where the poet's mother, Izumi Shikibu, was staying.