春ごとにながるる河を花と見て
をられぬ水に袖やぬれらむ
をられぬ水に袖やぬれらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Haru goto ni nagaruru kawa o hana to mite
orarenu mizu ni sode ya nureramu - English Translation
-
Each spring, the flowing stream
I take for blossoms,
and reaching for flowers
that cannot be plucked,
my sleeves are wet with water.
- Meaning
- Each spring, mistaking the plum blossoms reflected in the flowing stream for real flowers, I reach out to pluck them and end up wetting my sleeves in the river’s water.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
A poem composed on seeing plum blossoms blooming by the waterside.
Though the scene is beautiful, would one truly mistake flowers reflected in the water for real blossoms and try to take them in hand?
The poem lacks a sense of lived reality.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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