わがせこが衣はるさめふるごとに
のべのみどりぞいろまさりける
のべのみどりぞいろまさりける
- Roma-ji
-
Waga seko ga koromo harusame furu goto ni
nobe no midori zo iro masarikeru - English Translation
-
Each time the spring rain falls
on my beloved’s robe,
the green of the fields
alone deepens its color.
- Meaning
- Each time the spring rain falls, the green of the grasses and trees in the fields alone deepens in color.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
This poem was composed and offered when the Emperor commanded, “Present a poem.”
“seko” is a term a woman uses to affectionately address her husband or brothers.
At the turning of the seasons, garments are prepared; washing and re-stretching cloth is women’s work, so “my beloved’s robe” is set as a preface. The following “haru” plays on *haru* (to stretch) and spring. Though it reads like a woman’s poem, it is by .
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- The spring-worn robe of haze, its weft threads thin, by the mountain wind is like to be torn and rent.
- Even the green of ever-constant pines, when spring comes, now deepens by yet another degree.
- In the spring when green willows spin threads and weave them, so abundant with thread— yet the blossoms burst open in wild disarray.
- Pale green threads are spun and hung upon the boughs; threading white dew into shining beads— are these the willows of spring?