折りつれば袖こそにほへ梅の花
有りとやここにうぐひすのなく
有りとやここにうぐひすのなく
- Roma-ji
-
Oritsureba sode koso nioe ume no hana
ari to ya koko ni uguisu no naku - English Translation
-
When I plucked them,
my sleeves are what now smell—
plum blossoms’ scent;
thinking blossoms are here,
the warbler sings nearby.
- Meaning
- Because I have just plucked the plum blossoms, my sleeves are fragrant with their scent; perhaps thinking the blossoms are here, the warbler sings nearby.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
Though there are no plum blossoms here, the warbler is deceived by the lingering scent transferred from the plucked blossoms and sings insistently nearby; this conceit likely arises from the lived experience of scenting one’s garments with incense.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- When spring comes round, the geese return north again; on the white clouds’ road they go their distant way— would that I could send word.
- Seeing spring’s haze rise, the geese go, leaving it all; to a flowerless town— are they so used to living where no blossoms bloom?
- More than its color, its fragrance moves the heart— so deeply it feels; whose sleeves once brushed this lodge’s plum to leave such scent behind?
- Near my dwelling, I would not plant plum blossoms— how pointless that would be; for their scent is mistaken for the sleeves of one I await.