立ち別れ

いなばの山の

峰に生ふる

まつとしきかば

今かへりこむ 

ちゅうなごんゆきひら

たちわかれ

いなばのやまの

みねにおうる

まつとしきかば

いまかえりこん

Chunagon Yukihira

Though we have parted,

When on Mount Inaba's peak

I shall hear the call

Of pine trees growing,

I will return anon.

Woodcut by Kuniyoshi

Chunagon Yukihira, or Ariwara no Yukihira (818 - 893), was a Heian period poet and courtier and counsellor (chunagon). He was a half-brother of Ariwara no Narihira (poem 17), a grandson of emperor Saga, a nephew of Toru (poem 14) and first cousin of emperor Koko (poem 15). He was also inspector of Mutsu and Dewa provinces.

作者略伝と語釈

The word matsu has two meanings, one is ‘wait’ and the other ‘pine tree’, a word play difficult to translate. That is why it is written in hiragana, because the kanji would make the meaning explicit. Pine trees do make sounds when the pine cones open according to the weather. They have to be open to release their seeds, which then spiral down.

From Hokusai - One Hundred Poets (Peter Morse):

“The word shi also has multiple meanings. It can mean ‘poetry’ or ‘death’, and toshi means ‘year’. So the poet could mean to imply that poetry reminds him of his loved one, or that even death will not separate them, or even a mild suggestion that he will return within a year. The word inaba has an important pivotal function in the poem, meaning both the mountains of Inaba and ‘if I go away’.

A Noh play, Matsukaze (The Wind in the Pines), was inspired by this poem.

Inaba, where Yukihira was stationed as governor, would be present-day Tottori. It was the eastern part of the Tottori province.