Agemaki

(Old lyrical drama--date uncertain)

Agemaki wo Waseda ni yarite ya! So omou to, So omou to, So omou to, So omou to, So omou to,--

So omou to, Nani-mo sezushite,-- Harubi sura, Harubi sura, Harubi sura, Harubi sura, Harubi sura!

My darling boy!-- Oh! they have sent him to the ricefields! When I think about him,-- When I think, When I think, When I think, When I think,--

When I think about him! I--doing nothing at all,-- Even on this spring-day, Even this spring-day, Even this spring-day, Even this spring-day, Even on this spring-day!--

It was formerly the custom to shave the heads of boys, leaving only a tuft or lock of hair on either temple. Such a lock was called agemaki, a word also meaning "tassel"; and eventually the term came to signify a boy or lad. In these songs it is used as a term of endearment,--much as an English girl might speak of her sweetheart as "my dear lad," or "my darling boy."

Other forms of repetition and of refrain are furnished in the two following lyrics:--