春の夜のやみはあやなし梅の花
色こそ見えねかやはかくるる
色こそ見えねかやはかくるる
- Roma-ji
-
Haru no yo no yami wa ayanashi ume no hana
iro koso miene ka ya wa kakururu - English Translation
-
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?
- Meaning
- The darkness of a spring night is truly futile: in the dark the color of the plum blossoms cannot be seen, but how could their fragrance be hidden? It cannot be hidden.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
A poem composed on a spring night, on plum blossoms.
This poem exaggerates the fragrance of plum blossoms.
Though their form is unseen, it calls to mind a lover whose only presence is the scented robes, their fragrance drifting through the dark.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tsukiyo ni wa sore to mo miezu ume no hana
ka o tazunete zo shirubekarikeru - Next Poem
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Hito wa isa kokoro mo shirazu furusato wa
hana zo mukashi no ka ni nioikeru