[231] This passage, like some others, must be understood metaphorically as well as literally—here, in reference to the age of the tree and that of the speaker. The sashi of shitesashi seems to indicate a coming forward or interruption by the protagonist. Rongi-ji is a sort of dialogal chorus, and kuse, a statement of the precept or argument of the utahi, made by one of the chorus.
[232] Chorus again.
[233] From this point the verse is irregular.
[234] Poetized prose.
MAKURA KOTOBA
A list of all the Makura kotoba contained in the Manyôshiu.
Brief explanations only are given, sufficient to suggest the meaning which can never be strictly defined.
In the companion volume of Translations a short essay on the Makura kotoba will be found, and in the notes to the Translations some of the more difficult or interesting examples are discussed.