[49] みかき (Mikaki)

 Poem Meaning and Background

Depiction of the poem by Hokusai

みかきもり・ゑじのたくひの・よるはもえ
mikakimori・eji no taku hi no・yoru wa moe

ひるはきえつつ・ものをこそおもへ

hiru wa kie tsutsu・mono o koso omoe

〜大中臣 能宣（Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu）

Translation

Like the guard's fires

Kept at the imperial gateway —

Burning through the night,

Dull in ashes through the day —

Is the love aglow in me.

Meaning

A passion which burns like a flame in the night but fades to restless thoughts during the day: this poem vibrantly expresses the author's love by comparing it to the torches which are lit nightly by the guards who watch the gates of the imperial palace. While reading, you can imagine a bright red glow of these flames which cut through the darkness of the night. Though the poem may seem as if the author's passion burns out and disappears in the daytime, it is quite the opposite. His thoughts remain fixed on his love but during the day, when he is apart from his lover, these thoughts are tinged with worry and unease. It is implied that throughout the day, the author can think only of the one he loves, and that like the changing of the guards, this is a process which repeats, day in and day out. 

In the first line, みかき守（mikakimori) refers to the soldiers who guard the imperial palace gates. 衛士 (eji) also refers to soldiers which guard the gates, and they are also the ones who light the torches near the gates, called かがり火 (kagaribi). The つつ(tsutsu) at the end means that this is something which continues; so the cycle of the fires being lit, then burning to ash, then being reignited, is something which repeats itself over and over. Just as this is an endless cycle, the author himself is endlessly consumed by his feelings of love. 

Author

Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu (921 - 991) was a poet in the mid-Heian period. He is considered one of the 36 Immortals of Poetry and he helped to compile the Gosen Wakashū, another famous poetry anthology. His granddaughter, Ise no Taifu, authored poem [61] Ini.