君がため手折れる枝は春ながら
かくこそ秋のもみぢしにけれ
かくこそ秋のもみぢしにけれ
- Roma-ji
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Kimi ga tame taoreru eda wa haru nagara
kaku koso aki no momiji shinikere - English Translation
-
For you, my lady,
the branch I have broken off—
though it is but spring,
thus has it taken on
an autumn’s crimson leaves.
- Meaning
- For you, I have broken this branch—though it is spring, it has thus taken on the crimson leaves of autumn, like my own feelings.
- Commentary
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Episode Twenty: "For you, my lady"
A man courted a woman who lived in Yamato and formed a bond with her. Because he served at court in the capital, he could not remain in Yamato and so returned to the capital.
It seems there was no custom of taking a wife from the provinces to the capital, and the woman was left behind in Yamato.
On his way back to the capital, around the third month of spring, he sent this poem to her, enclosing a branch of maple.
It expresses that though he returns to the capital, his heart remains with his wife in Yamato.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Prev Poem
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Amagumo no yoso ni nomi shite furu koto wa
waga iru yama no kaze hayami nari - Next Poem
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Idete inaba kokoro karushi to ii ya semu
yo no arisama o hito wa shiraneba