yaFemugura sigeki yado ni Fa natumusi no kowe yori Foka ni toFu Fito mo nasi
The tangled, overlapping creepers A lush dwelling do make; The summer insects’ Songs apart No folk come to call.
Anonymous
One thought on “GSS IV: 194”
The image of a desolate hut hidden with layer upon layer of mugura vines is an interesting one paired with the calls of summer insects. やへむぐら (overgrown with weeds) also appears in Man’yōshū #2824 and #2825.
I had previously thought that this phrase derived from Bo Juyi’s poem “Alone at Night in a Grass-thatched Hut beneath Lu Shan Mountain,” which is also quoted in section 77 of the Pillow Book (McKinney, p. 67). However, that is obviously incorrect, as the Man’yōshū poems very likely predate his birth.
The image of a desolate hut hidden with layer upon layer of mugura vines is an interesting one paired with the calls of summer insects. やへむぐら (overgrown with weeds) also appears in Man’yōshū #2824 and #2825.
I had previously thought that this phrase derived from Bo Juyi’s poem “Alone at Night in a Grass-thatched Hut beneath Lu Shan Mountain,” which is also quoted in section 77 of the Pillow Book (McKinney, p. 67). However, that is obviously incorrect, as the Man’yōshū poems very likely predate his birth.
http://www.wakapoetry.net/mugura/
http://www.wakapoetry.net/mys-xi-2824/
http://www.wakapoetry.net/mys-xi-2825/