Year
Emperor Tenmu (d. 686)
Gentle men have praised
With great and goodly words
This gracious field
So gorgeously gazed upon
By the good men here
Original Text | Modern Text | Pronunciation |
大海人 | 大海人 | Ooshi Aama no Mikoto (Emperor Tenmu) |
淑人乃 | 淑き人の | Yoki hito no |
良跡吉見而 | よしとよく見て | Yoshi to yoku mite |
好常言師 | よしと言ひし | Yoshi to iishi |
芳野吉見<与> | 吉野よく見よ | Yoshino yoku mi yo |
良人四来三 | 良き人よく見 | Yoki-hito yoku mi |
Translation Notes
A poem by Emperor Tenmu (d. 686), written when he visited Yoshino
淑き人の | Gentle/noble people ’s [wise men from the past] |
よしとよく見て | Well often observed [very carefully observed] |
よしと言ひし | Good/pleasing said-it-was [found goodness (in Yoshino)] |
吉野よく見よ | Yoshino well observe [“Yoshino” literally means “blessing field” or “good-luck field”] |
良き人よく見 | Good men well observe [wise men from this era] |
Yoshio-Nara prefecture, Yoshino Province area. This poem repeatedly puns with variations of “good,” all beginning with “Yo,” in line with the literal meaning of “Yoshino,” which is also considered a holy mountain. In this way, the poem can be considered a kind of playful prayer or blessing. The extensive use of puns, however, makes it difficult for the translation to give the sense of the poem in Japanese.