[27] みかの (Mikano)

 Poem Meaning and Background

Izumi-gawa, picture by 水垣

みかのはら・わきてながるる・いづみがは

Mika no hara・wakite nagaruru・Izumi-gawa

いつみきとてか・こひしかるらむ

itsu mi kitote ka・koishi karuran

〜中納言兼輔 (Chūnagon Kanesuke)

Translation

Over Mika's plain,

Gushing forth and flowing free,

Is Izumi's stream.

I do not know if we have met:

Why, then, do I long for her?

Meaning

In the Heian period, women of nobility were rarely seen in public. Men pretty much had to rely on rumors to have any sort of idea what a princess or other high-ranking noble woman looked like. If they became interested in a woman, they would send letters and poetry back and forth, hoping eventually they would be granted with a chance to meet in person. This poem is expressing the growing feeling of love for a woman whose face is still unknown to the author. 

"Izumi river" which is referenced here is a river in Kyoto now called 木津川(Kizu-gawa). "Wakite" has a double meaning, since it can mean 湧きて(to well up, to gush forth) or 分きて (to split), referring to how the river cleaves through みかの原 (Mika's plain). 

One of the interesting points of the poem is how at the beginning of the poem, we get all this imagery in the beginning of a river, flowing out across a plain. However, it's not until the very last line that the author reveals that this river is a metaphor for his love which is has welled up and is now flowing forth like the river. 

Author

Fujiwara no Kanesuke (877-933) is one of the 36 Immortals of Poetry. He is the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu, author of poem [57] Me and also the cousin of Fujiwara no Sadakata, author of poem [25] Nanishi. Chūnagon is a title for a mid-rank counselor in the Imperial court.