Kokinshu #354
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 07:14 (for the same celebration)
The ten-thousand years
I lie down and ponder,
I get up and count --
the gods indeed surely know:
they're destined for my lord.
fushite omoi
okite kazouru
yorozuyo wa
kami zo shiruramu
waga kimi no tame
---L.
The ten-thousand years
I lie down and ponder,
I get up and count --
the gods indeed surely know:
they're destined for my lord.
—20 January 2013
(Original by Sosei.) Sosei ups the stakes -- no more of this mere thousand, or even eight-thousand, stuff. Such a period was generally understood as not even indefinitely long but closer to near-infinite. The first half is built around a neat structural antithesis, and the "my" part of "my lord" is, for once, explicit. Grammatical ambiguity: is the speaker contemplating the 10,000 years or contemplating for 10,000 years? While the former makes more literal sense, the latter also works as hyperbolic flattery. Omitted-but-understood verb: "are."fushite omoi
okite kazouru
yorozuyo wa
kami zo shiruramu
waga kimi no tame
---L.