VOLUME-2
☆Prince Hozumi’s elegy for Princess Tajima
降る雪は
あはにな降りそ
吉隠の
猪養の岡の
寒からなくに
(穂積皇子 巻2-203)
Furuyukiha
Ahanina furiso
Yonabarino
Ikahino okano
Samukaranakuni
To the falling snow ―
Do not fall and stay so thick ―
As my dear love sleeps
There in Yonabari Hill -
So cold and lonely she’d feel…
(Vol.2-203)
In the poem nos. 2-115 & 2-116, we trailed the track of a tragic love affair between Prince Hozumi and Princess Tajima, and about 15 years after these poems, Princess passed away young (about 35 years old?), and Prince Hozumi dedicated this current poem as an elegy over his true love.
Yonabari Hill is said to indicate a mound somewhere in Sakurai City, Nara Pref., and a monument engraved with this poem can be seen in the courtyard of Yonabari District Community Center.
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