Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.49 大中臣能宣朝臣「みかき守 衛士のたく火の 夜は燃え 昼は消えつつ 物をこそ思へ」

みかき守 衛士のたく火の 夜は燃え 昼は消えつつ 物をこそ思へ

大中臣能宣朝臣

lit at dusk, out by dawn — night after night, on duty

lit at dusk, out by dawn — night after night, on duty

キーワードKeywords

Guard FireNight FlameDaytime AshPalace GateCycle
Love

大中臣能宣朝臣Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu — No. 49 官人Official

A Shinto priest who served as head of the Ise Shrine and one of the five compilers of the Gosenshū.

みかきもり ゑじのたくひの よはもえ ひるはきえつつ ものをこそおもへ

Mikakimori Eji no taku hi no Yo wa moe Hiru wa kie tsutsu Mono o koso omoe

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

A watchman’s fire at a palace gate: lit every night by duty, dead every morning by duty. His feeling runs on the same shift pattern, and neither he nor the fire chooses the schedule.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Ma (Rhythm of Absence)

The poem defines a feeling by its cycle — on at night, off by day — rather than its intensity. Pattern is a form of expression; a loop tells the listener how long this has been going on.