In spring, when
plum blossoms give forth their scent,
Mount Kurabu—
though I crossed it in the dark of night,
clearly, there they were, I knew.
- Meaning
- In spring, when the plum blossoms were in fragrant bloom, though I crossed Mount Kurabu in the darkness of night, I knew clearly that the plum blossoms were there by their scent.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
A poem composed at Mount Kurabu.
A poem that exaggerates the fragrance of the plum blossoms.
Mount Kurabu is often identified with Mount Kurama in Kyoto, but its location is uncertain.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- Only from afar had I felt their deep beauty— these plum blossoms; their color I never tire of I knew only when I broke them off.
- To whom but you should I show these plum blossoms— their color and scent; one who knows both the color and scent is the one who knows them.
- On a moonlit night, I could not tell which was which— plum blossoms, so by seeking out their scent, I came to know the way.
- In the spring night’s dark, how pointless is the deep gloom— plum blossoms: though their color is not seen, how could their scent be hidden?